Your Halo Slipping Down To Choke You Now
by TheImmortalChaplin
Summary: Ellie Turner has done something you should never do: Mess with the Joker. Now she lives her life on the run, but her greatest fear soon catches up with her. Will the Joker believe her lies? Or is it goodbye for her? based mainly on The Dark Knight
1. Chapter 1

The cool autumn wind blew, making Ellie Turner shiver as she clenched her jacket shut. Placing her hands in her pockets, she walked quickly down the sidewalk, with a backpack strapped tightly to her back. It was around one o'clock in the morning, and Ellie walked on trying to find a motel to stay at for the night. She wasn't in the best part of town, so she instinctively reached one hand into her jacket, lightly touching the gun in her inside pocket as if to reassure herself that it was still there. Removing her hand from her jacket, she placed it back into her jeans pocket and continued on walking.

The streets had an eerie silence to them which was usually not common for this area in Gotham. Paranoia started to set in as Ellie made her way down the seemingly abandoned street. She checked behind her every few minutes, as well as constantly feeling for her gun, making sure it was truly there.

Finally, Ellie reached a motel. It looked run-down and neglected, graffiti painted all along the sides of the building. Sighing, Ellie pushed open the door, looking behind her one last time, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

Once inside, she went over to the counter where a scruffy looking man sat, drinking a beer and watching god-knows-what on a mini black and white t.v. Ellie had to clear her throat to get the man's attention away from the t.v. screen. Once she did so, he looked up at her, a wide grin quickly spread over his face as he looked her over.

The man was in his mid-40's, balding, and had grease stains all over his once white wife beater that barely covered his beer belly. Someone that could be considered not very appealing to the eye.

"I need a room. Single bed; two days." She said simply, in a quiet, somewhat cold tone.

Looking her over once more, the man spoke. He had a sort of gravelly sounding voice, "Alright, but it's goin' to run ya about eighty bucks." Ellie raised her eyebrows and looked around the place. To put it nicely: it was a dump. Plain and simple. The rooms couldn't be much better and definitely wasn't worth forty dollars a night. Ellie let out a small, annoyed sigh. She needed a place to stay so she wasn't going to complain. Chances were, if she did complain, the man would just jack up the price even more.

On the counter, Ellie placed down exactly 180. The man looked at it, then at her. Before he could even ask, Ellie answered his unspoken question, "the extra hundred is to _help_ you _forget_ ever seeing my face." The man nodded, understanding what she meant and then he took the money from the counter. In exchange, he gave her a key. That was one advantage of being in this part of town; slip someone some extra cash and they'll forget your face in a heartbeat.

After inserting the key into the lock of her hotel room and having to jiggle the knob a few times, Ellie managed to get the door open. Once inside, Ellie took in her surroundings. The room was medium size, and contained a bed, a beat up dresser, a ragged couch and a small glass coffee table…must be what this hotel considers its 'suite.' Ellie thought as she laughed a bit to herself and continued looking around. The wallpaper, a pukish yellow color, was peeling off the walls and the window drapes were moth eaten. The carpet looked like it dated back to the 1970's and the bed…well let's just say you probably wouldn't want to run a black light over it.

'Well at least it has a bathroom.' Ellie thought to herself, sighing as she fully walked into the room, closing and locking the door behind her. 'At least I won't be here long.' Ellie never spent more than two days in the same place. It was too risky. For the past year or so she had been 

running; running from both sides of the law. But the police didn't scare her as bad as did the man that wanted her the most. A year ago, Ellie had made the biggest mistake of her life; a mistake that she hoped wouldn't catch up with her. So that's why she ran. From motel to motel every two nights, surviving on what was left of the money that wasn't even rightfully hers in the first place.

Taking her backpack off, Ellie tossed in onto the bed and unzipped it. The contents of the bag consisted of: a change of clothes, a set of pajamas, some extra bullets, a pocket knife, and a wad of cash that was slowly diminishing by the day. These were the only possessions she owned. When you were constantly on the move, you couldn't bring much with you. She alternated between her two outfits every couple of days, stopping at local laundry mats every so often to wash of them. Ok, life on the move wasn't exactly glamorous, but it was necessary to survive.

Ellie pulled out her sleepwear: a tank top and a pair of pajama pants. Then she grabbed the gun out of her jacket pocket and placed it on the coffee table. Yawning, Ellie went into the bathroom, which turned out to not be in much greater condition than the bedroom either. 'Well, what do you expect from a two star hotel…' Ellie was slightly surprised however that clean water actually came out of the tub faucet as she turned it on, drawing herself a bath.

The steam from the hot bath threatened her with sleep, but Ellie managed to suppress the urge…at least for the first few minutes…

"_**We're going to rob two banks at the same time. I'll get you a couple guys and you and them will clean out one back while I handle the other."**_

……………………………………………………

'_**Just take it and go. Leave this life behind…with that kind of money you can do anything.' Ellie's conscience screamed at her.**_

The decision to listen to that little voice changed her life that day. A change that was not for the better….

Ellie woke, still in the bathtub. Rubbing her eyes, and yawning once more, Ellie drained the water and got out. She changed into her pajamas, leaving her dirty clothes on the bathroom floor for now.

Drying her hair off with the motel's 'courtesy' towel, Ellie left the bathroom. But what she saw made the towel drop from her hands and her whole body froze instantly. In her room was the man. The man that she had been afraid of encountering for the past year. He was sitting casually on the tattered couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He had her gun in his hands and was eyeing it with a mischievous grin on his face.

He then turned his head slightly, taking his attention off the gun and directed his stare towards frozen Ellie. Seeing the look of horror on her face made the man laugh. A cold, chill-full cackle that made Ellie tremble.

A moment later, the laughing stopped a she looked her dead in the eye. "Ah, El. You're a hard woman to get a hold of. But now that I'm here, I think we have some business to discuss. Wouldn't you agree?" His own comment brought out another fit of laughter from him. He wiped the tears from his eyes, smearing the black and white make-up that plastered his face. But what frightened Ellie the most was his smile. His lips painted in blood red which reached up to the 

sides of his mouth. Under the red make-up were scars. Scars that forced this man to have an ever-lasting smile, no matter what his mood may be. The man with the smile that haunted Ellie's dreams. Some called him a 'murderer'. Some, 'the devil himself'. But for the majority, he was known as one thing: 'The Joker.' But his jokes were no laughing matter; at least for everyone besides the Joker who found them hilarious. And tonight, Ellie knew,

**The joke was going to be on her.**


	2. Chapter 2

Ellie stood there, staring at the man who had been trying to find her for at least a year now. Frankly, Ellie was surprised that he actually had found her, even for someone like him. She had been so careful. Careful with everything she did. Made sure to pay off the right people; to always look over her shoulder; to make sure she never left a trace of anywhere she'd been. But it hadn't been enough. I guess when a psychopathic killer is determined to find you, no precaution is ever enough. It was best to just crawl under a rock and never come out…but then again, the devil could find you there too.

She stared at him, trying to think of any possible excuse she could give to explain what she had done. But the Joker was a hard man to get forgiveness from. The term 'forgive' just wasn't in his vocabulary; words like 'revenge' and 'retaliation' sounded much more appealing to him.

After what seemed like ages for Ellie, Joker finally stood up from the couch, her gun still in his hand. She tensed up, her legs still not able to work. They remained frozen in the ground from pure fear.

The Joker raised the gun, pointing it directly at her head. Instantly, the color left Ellie's face as she bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears. She usually wasn't afraid of really anything, but he had always been the one thing that managed to put fear in her.

Joker closed one of his eyes and stuck his tongue out to the side of his mouth as if trying hard to concentrate. "What? Not even going to beg? You're boring." He had said. This made the terror on Ellie's face grow and she tried to form words, but like her legs, her voice box wasn't working either.

A moment later, Joker let out a "BANG!" But instead of the sound coming from the gun, the word 'bang' had come loudly from his mouth, making Ellie jump. Her petrified expression made the Joker break out into another fit of cackles.

He was toying with her…

Once the Joker managed to some-what contain his howls of laughter, he looked at her, his smile full of malice, "Awww, Come on El. You didn't think I'd end it this quickly did you?" He gave her a sly smile as he shook a disapproving finger at her, "Tsk, tsk. I'm ashamed. Really, I am. I thought you knew me better El." He placed the finger on his chin as he studied her with his eyes, "As appealing as it sounds to kill you with your own gun, I'd much rather use a knife and enjoy this process a little longer…but a gun is a nice way to start things off." As soon as he said this, the gun went off, this time for real. But he had aimed it lower; making the bullet hit her in the upper thigh.

Ellie let out a small scream of pain, not wanting to give him the full satisfaction, as she dropped to her knees, grasping her bleeding leg.

Joker threw the gun onto the couch, and then started slowly walking towards his prey, pulling out a knife as he did so.

Ellie knew that she needed to by herself some time, just in order to get her head straight. She looked helplessly up at the approaching Joker, a sick grin was spread over his face. Without really thinking, Ellie managed to get up, and she darted to the bathroom before the Joker could grab her. She was able to shut and lock the bathroom door as she hissed in pain from her throbbing leg.

She knew a flimsy door wouldn't keep the Joker out for long, but it at least gave her a little time. Quickly, she looked around, trying to find anything that she could possibly use as a weapon. She could throw her dirty clothes at him… 'but never bring dirty clothes to a knife fight.' Oh god. She was making jokes now, in a situation like this? 'I really must have spent WAY too much time with that maniac.'

Quickly pushing her thoughts away, she heard pounding on the door, making a wave of panic rush through her. She was trapped like a rat…until she saw the window. Why hadn't she noticed it before? Oh yeah, she was too busy making jokes that weren't even remotely funny. Ellie, as quickly as she could, went to the window, dragging her injured leg as she did so. The pounding on the door became fiercer. She knew that a door in a dump like this probably wasn't very sturdy. 'Probably the cheapest model that the builder could find at Home Depot.' Damn it! More fucking jokes. Just him being in the same motel room as her was corrupting her mind. She couldn't fully think straight. And this damn window! Another cheap Home Depot model. Fucking thing wouldn't open. It was just big enough for her to crawl through; that is if she could get it open first.

Knowing she didn't have the time, as it looked like Joker was about to break down the door, she balled her hand into a fist and punched the window. Unfortunately, being no more than 115 pounds, muscle wasn't an attribute that Ellie had. Or maybe the window wasn't as cheap as she originally thought. The glass was pretty strong after all. God dammit! 'Ok, shut up and try it again.' Ellie made another fist, which was now also throbbing from her last punch. This time she managed to break through the glass, her fist now bleeding, along with her leg.

But of course, luck really wasn't an attribute Ellie had either because right after she had punched through the window, Joker managed to punch through the door. His arm snaked towards the door's lock as Ellie tried desperately to clear the rest of the glass from the window so she could fit through. Her hand was now stinging almost as badly as her leg.

As she was about to clear away the last of the now-bloody glass, Ellie felt a sharp pain as she was thrown down backwards by her hair, making her yelp. Wincing, she looked up to see the Joker standing over her, a livid expression on his face.

He then bent down, one could say straddling her, as he got right in her face. The knife was pressed tightly to her throat and he whispered in a venomous tone,

"Why so serious?"


	3. Chapter 3

"P-please…let m-me explain…" Ellie whimpered, as she stared up at the Joker who was on top of her, still having the knife pressed on her throat. The Joker smirked, pressing the knife further to her throat, drawing out a little blood, "Oh its way too late to explain now. I know what you did. Thought it'd be funny did you? Pull a little joke on the Joker eh? Well I've now got a little joke for you." Normally his voice had a sort of childish tone to it, but right now it was nothing but pure malice. But no matter how cold his voice sounded, a smile still remained on the Joker's face.

"Tell me if you've heard this joke before: Ok, so a little bitch walks into a bank. She goes to the clerk, points a gun at his head and tells him to give her the money. He-" "It was Coletti!" Ellie cried, interrupting Joker's 'joke.' Joker stared at her through narrowed eyes, as if trying to determine whether or not to believe her. He released the knife's pressure on her neck ever so slightly, waiting for her to continue.

"Vincent Coletti. He said that he knew that you were going to rip him off sooner or later, like you did with all the other mob bosses, so he was going to beat you to it…He blackmailed me. I didn't want to help him, but I had no choice…it's him that you should be going after…I didn't get any of the money. Honestly." Ellie prayed that he believed her story.

In truth that was not what had happened at all. Sure, Vince Coletti was in fact involved; but he was involved only after she had taken the money…

Three years ago, Ellie had started working for the Joker. She had been young, stupid, and in need of cash. But a few years later, she realized that she wanted a way out. The criminal life had been fun in the beginning, but she had grown up. She wanted a different life. One with a clean slate 

and to have the opportunity to become whatever her heart truly desired. She then realized that once you enter a line of work like that of a criminal, you only leave once you were dead. So Ellie gave up hope on doing something more with her life; that was until she was assigned the job of being in charge of a bank robbery. Usually, the Joker was there, making sure things ran smoothly. But he had said that he was going to be at another bank, robbing it; kill two birds with one stone kind of thing. The operation was going fine until Ellie saw the money. The other guys helping her were eventually killed off, like the Joker told her to do, and it was just her with the money. Her ticket out of this life.

She took it. Never thinking twice of what the consequences would be. After awhile, Ellie started to get on edge. She was afraid of what the Joker would do if he found her. So, she went to a mobster by the name of Vince Coletti, seeking some sort protection from the Joker. He agreed in exchange for half of the money. He told her to wire all the money to one of his safe bank accounts. He would withdraw half the money for himself and she would be able to have access to the other half whenever she needed. That was her biggest mistake…well second biggest…her first was that she had stolen from the Joker.

Ellie learned real quick why you should never trust a criminal. Coletti instead withdrew all the money for himself, had some of his men beat her up, and then leave her in an alley way for dead.

After that, she had nothing. So she ran. Ran for a year, hoping, praying that her former 'employer' wouldn't find her. But now here she was. Laying on her back in a dumpy motel's bathroom; staring at the cold, dark eyes of the man that she should have never messed with.

The Joker released the knife from Ellie's throat, making her breath a small sigh of relief. He had bought the lie. He thought it was Coletti who made her steal the money. A rush of happiness filled her eyes.

The Joker saw the fear leave Ellie's eyes and that she had been washed over with relief. The fact that she was letting her guard down made the smile on Joker's face widen. He took the knife and stabbed it forcefully into Ellie's shoulder. He laughed manically as he listened and enjoyed the screams of pain he had caused her.

More tears leaked from Ellie's eyes and more screams erupted as the Joker dug the knife deeper. "I don't care who blackmailed you. You should know not to fuck with me. It's not about the money…it's the principle of the matter." He licked his bottom lip, breaking out into yet again another fit of laughter.

After enjoying her screams for a few more moments, the Joker pulled his knife out of her shoulder, and got off of her. He stood over her, grinning as he watched her lay there, panting and clutching her shoulder. "Get up." He said, licking his bottom lip once more, eagerly.

Knowing it would be better to just do what he said, Ellie stumbled to her feet, almost falling over twice from the gunshot wound in her leg as well as from the loss of blood from her three injuries that she had acquired in the past 20 minutes. She steadied herself, but a second later she was back on the cold tiled floor again, this time from a punch to the face from Joker.

"B-but…Coletti…he was-" "Oh don't worry. He'll get his too. But right now…" Joker bent down next to her, "I wanna rip you apart. I need to teach you a lesson that everyone should know. I'm the one who tells the jokes. You don't EVER fuck with ME. I'm the one that fucks with YOU."

He pulled her up by the hair, dragging her out of the bathroom, and slammed her onto the wall. His knife appeared in his hand once more, pressing it on her cheek this time. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" The Joker squealed, the childishness that usually was apparent in his voice had returned.

With his free hand, the Joker grabbed Ellie's chin, forcing her to look at him. Cocking his head to the side, the Joker eyed her face carefully, taking in every detail, watching every tear that fell. "First things first. You need a smile on that face…so, smile." He ordered, applying more pressure to the knife on her face.

Ellie forced herself to give him a small smile. She had seen him put 'smiles' on people's faces before when they had not listened to him, and the thought of having a permanent smile did not sound appealing at all. Besides, she was bleeding enough as it was.

"That's a good girl." The Joker cooed, moving a lock of hair out of Ellie's face. "You're so much prettier when you're smiling. You should be like that _all the time_." He said, his voice growing more and more malicious with every word he said.

Ellie's lip trembled, but continued smiling, afraid that if she stopped, he would help give her an eternal 'smile'.


	4. Chapter 4

The knife traced Ellie's cheeks. There wasn't enough pressure to pierce the skin, but that didn't lessen the fear that she had. The Joker watched Ellie as her eyes stared at the knife. Her body was shaking which made the Joker howl with laughter…this only made her shake even more.

"So…" He finally spoke, never taking his eyes off Ellie, "Answer me this: If you were forced by Coletti to steal _my_ money because you were…what was it again? Blackmailed? Why would you run away? I'm a man of understanding, you could have told me. Afraid I'd be angry?" The Joker said in an uncharacteristically soft tone. One hand still held the knife to Ellie while the other caressed her opposite cheek gently.

Ellie stood there in silence, not answering, and never daring to look at the Joker in the eye. A few moments passed, and the Joker's facial features were starting to show how irritated he was getting with her muteness.

The hand that had been caressing her cheek before now roughly grabbed a handful of Ellie's hair, "Answer me!" The Joker boomed, his eyes had a look of murder in them. I swear he's bi-polar.

With another tug on her hair, Ellie finally answered, "Y-yeah. I thought you would be pissed…I-I didn't know what to do…please…it wasn't my faul-"

"So you took my money and ran because you thought I'd be pissed?" The Joker asked, back to his regular tone of voice, no hint of the anger he had expressed moments before. Like I said, bi-polar…

But as soon as Joker had said this, the calmness was gone in a flash; his eyes then flared with anger, and his voice filled with hate, "You're right, I would have been pissed…but let's not talk about what would've happened. Let's talk about right now…I would have been pissed alright, but right now…" He looked at her dead in the eye and whispered in a voice filled with nothing but pure venom, "I'm fucking furious."

He threw Ellie to the ground, kicking her in the stomach a few times. She managed to roll over onto her side, wincing and coughing up blood. Still on the ground, Ellie's back was facing the Joker; her shirt had lifted up a bit (around her belly-button area), which exposed a little bit of black ink on her lower back.

The Joker noticed this, and narrowing his eyes, he bent down next to her. Grabbing the back of Ellie's shirt, he yanked it up further to see a tattoo of a tribal-like design across her lower back (some would call it a 'tramp stamp' due to its location).

He traced the tattoo with his leather gloved finger. The Joker then stood back up and kicked Ellie hard in the back, making her groan. "What the hell is this!?" He yelled. Not waiting for a response, he kicked her again, "What is it!?"

Ellie pulled her shirt back down, covering the tattoo once more. She scurried over to the wall, using it for support as she stood back up onto her feet to face the Joker.

"It…I-um…" Ellie stuttered as she stared fearfully at him. He looked as if he could kill her right then and there. She knew that at the moment, the Joker could have forgotten all about the money incident and yet he'd still be willing to cut her up…all because of the tattoo.

At a distance, it looked like any normal tattoo. But upon closer inspection, say if you touched it, you'd feel bumps here and there where the dark ink had covered up previous scars.

Scars that were once caused by none other than the Joker's knife. She had been his property and so to make it known to everyone (and to give Ellie a little reminder), the Joker had carved his name across her back.

When Ellie had started her life on the run, it was the first thing that she got rid of (well at least did her best to cover it up). She had tattooed over the scars, and although you could still somewhat feel them, it was difficult to make out what they said anymore.

"Let me guess…Coletti blackmailed you to get a tattoo? Is that it? Come on, tell mo." The Joker said, clearly infuriated. His eyes were wide as he licked his bottom lip, hungry for answers.

Ellie backed herself further to the wall, now really at a loss of what to say. She had betrayed him by stealing his money, and then betrayed him with the tattoo, covering up his 'mark on her.' The mark that symbolized to her and everyone that she was his.

Of course, Joker's bi-polar problem kicked in and his voice turned calm. "Aw, Come here El. I'm not mad. Come over here and I'll make it all better." Joker outstretched his arms, waiting for her to come to him. Ellie, however, didn't move. She knew him too well to fall for a simple trick like that.

Joker got a pouty look on his face, "Now you're just hurting my feelings…Come over here…" Once again, Ellie didn't move. In response to her stubbornness, Joker's face grew angry and he pulled out a gun from the inside of his jacket pocket and pointed it at her, "I told you to do something, and I expect you to do it…so, COME HERE!"

Ellie flinched at the sudden change in his voice, but hurried over to him anyways. When she got close enough, Joker grabbed her and held her close. He began rocking back and forth slowly with her, humming a tune that Ellie didn't recognize.

He began stroking her hair, still holding her in a tight hug. "I've missed you El." He said, his voice back to its creepy calm state. Ellie was tense. She knew that his mood could and would change so fast that she wouldn't realize it until it was too late. She then felt a sharp pain as the Joker tugged on some of her hair, "I've missed you too…" Ellie mumbled, which made the Joker's hand relax its grip on her hair as he rested his cheek on the top of Ellie's head, smiling.

"But it makes me sad that you would betray me like this…" Ellie didn't answer him until she felt his gun being jabbed into her side. "I'm sorry…" she whispered, hoping that she wouldn't set him off again.

The Joker pushed Ellie away, and she fell to the ground. She looked up at him, apprehensively, expecting to see and enraged expression, but instead it was surprisingly still calm.

The Joker put his gun back in his inner coat pocket and pulled out his knife instead. Seeing this, Ellie started to scoot away, using her good leg to back away from the Joker.

Walking calmly towards her, Joker bent down, grabbed her injured leg, and pulled her back to him. Crouching down by Ellie, Joker watched as he twirled his knife in his hands. Then his eyes fell back on Ellie, an evil grin now apparent on his face.

Habitually, the Joker licked his lips, rolling Ellie onto her stomach with his free hand. "Please…" Ellie begged, not really knowing what he was going to do; all she knew that whatever it was, she wasn't going to like it. Ignoring her, Joker sat on Ellie's back, grabbing her right arm and pulling it towards him. she let out a small cry of pain because he had pulled her arm back into a position that arms normally aren't suppose to be in.

"Now, since you've decided to ink up that pretty little body of yours, it looks like I'm going to have to _reclaim_ you." The Joker said, a sick childish grin on his face. "Please…don't…" Her pleas were once again ignored as Joker hunched over and stabbed his knife into her upper right shoulder. Ellie screamed as Joker carved out the first letter. Once finished, he moved the knife under the first cuts and then carved out the second letter, continuing Ellie's screams.

As the Joker went down her arm, carving out each letter deep into her arm, he was laughing. His crazy, psychotic laugh that sent shivers down anyone's spines.

Finally finished, the Joker leaned back and admired his 'artwork.' Down her whole arm were messy cuts spelling out,

J

O

K

E

R

He stood back up, watching Ellie grasp her bleeding arm, tears drenching her face, whimpers erupting from her mouth.

"Much better. Ink that one up and next time I'll carve you a nice big smile." He said threateningly, laughter filling the air once more.

As Ellie lay in her pool of blood, the Joker came over to her, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder, walking out of the motel room.

Now in the motel's lobby, Joker (still with Ellie on his shoulder), walked past the front desk, 

winking at the same balding man that Ellie had come in contact with before. The man just nodded at the Joker, fear plastered across his face.

The Joker was enjoying every moment of Ellie sobbing on his shoulders as he walked out of the run-down motel. She wasn't fighting him. She was too weak at the moment. Either that or she was too afraid of what the Joker would do if she did try and resist him. The Joker hoped it was the latter of the two.

"Now, I think it's time we pay a little visit to good ol' Vincent Coletti…"


	5. Chapter 5

Joker carried Ellie a block from the motel. Slipping into an alley, Joker walked to where his van was parked. Ellie, still over Joker's shoulder, managed to lift her head up and she saw that she had been leaving a trail of blood from the motel all the way to the alley. Her vision had been going in and out of focus as her body screamed in agony.

"Let...Let me go..." Ellie had trouble forming her words. She was losing too much blood... "Sure thing sweetcheeks." Joker said in a childish tone, opening up the back of the van and literally tossing her inside. His high-pitched laughter filled the air asshe landed roughly, letting out a large groan.

"Don't forget to wear your seatbelt!" Joker laughed once more as he slammed the van doors and then moved to the front of the van to get into the driver's seat.

There were about four seats in the back of the van (2 on each side, lined against the wall), but Ellie couldn't move even an inch towards any of them. Her body hurt too much to move. But as soon as the Joker started up the van and began driving, Ellie wished that she had pulled herself onto a seat. Joker was going well over the speed limit and swerving all over the road, which caused Ellie to slide around the floor, hitting the van walls, the seats, and other junk that was scattered in the back on the van.

He watched her in the rear view mirror as she collided with everything in sight, causing herself more pain which only encouraged him to drive even faster; all the while letting out one of his infamous laughs.  


"P-Please...Take me to a hospital...I think I-...I need to-..." That was the only words Ellie had managed to let out before the Joker slammed down hard on the breaks, sending Ellie flying towards the front of the van.

The Joker stood up from his seat, going over to where Ellie lay whimpering in pain. The van was stopped in the middle of the road, but hardly anyone was on the streets at this hour. Not that it really mattered anyway.

By this time, most of the floor of the van was covered in blood from where Ellie had been sliding helplessly around like a ragdoll. "Now Now. Look at the mess you've made. I told you you should've put on your seatbelt..."

He then stared down at Ellie, with a somewhat puzzled expression on his face, "Now why in the world would you need to go to the hospital? You look perfectly fine to me. _**Exactly how I always wanted you to be." **_He said darkly, grinning maliciously at her, "So, give me one good reason why you would want to go to the hospital?"

Ellie's temper was rising, even in the weak state that she was in. To any normal person, it'd be clear as day that she needed medical attention. But then again, the Joker wasn't a normal person. He was far from it. And even that would be an understatement. Or maybe he did realize that she needed medical attention and just simply didn't care. After all, he was a fan of watching people squirm in their own agony. Ellie spat out a mouthful of blood, and raised her eyes to meet his, 

careful not to move any part of her body.

"For one...You shot me! There's a fucking bullet in my leg!" Ellie yelled, furiously. She was glad, however, that she had actually managed to say something that was somewhat coherent.

The Joker raised his eyebrows, and formed an 'O' shape with his mouth, giving a fake expression that looked like he had no idea that Ellie had been shot, and that he was very surprised to hear the news.

Ellie glared at this. She hated being mocked, and Joker was a pro at it. Her glare instantly turned to a face full of fear, however, when she saw him pull out his knife.

"You don't need some crack-pot ol' doctor to take care of a wittle bulletwound...Not when you've got me around babe" Joker said, once  
again in a malicious tone, grinning maniacally. Ellie mentally rolled her eyes, 'there's only one crack-pot around here...'

"Let me see where it hurts. I'll fix it up all right. Come on. Come here. Let me see it..." The Joker said almost like in a frenzy, his eyes were wide with a hint of a crazy gleam in them. He began licking his lips anxiously.

"Stay the fuck away from me." Ellie said, starting to panic by his behavior. Her eyes never leaving the knife that he held.  


The Joker bent down onto his knees beside her, running the knife through his hair, and staring at her eagerly. "Don't make me beg. That's your job." The Joker said, grabbing Ellie's injured leg and pulling it onto his lap. He eyed the wound that had torn a hole through her pajama pants, his tongue moving all around his lips frantically. Joker took his hands and ripped apart more of the material of her pants that surrounded the bullet hole. He then raised his knife, flashing a quick grin at Ellie, "I'll make it all better. I will make the bullet disappear. Just. Like. Magic." He said, laughing childishly.

Ellie tried to get away from him before he could cut her up even more than he had already done, but the Joker's grip was tight on her leg, preventing her from going anywhere. "Will you stop it? I'm trying to help!" The Joker whined.

Before she knew it, then he had dug his knife into her bullet wound, making Ellie scream in pain. New tears rolled down her already drenched cheeks, as the Joker moved his knife around inside her wound.

After what seemed like forever for Ellie, the Joker removed his knife, with a bullet in one hand, blood soaking both of his gloves. He leaned over, grabbing the top of Ellie's tank top, and pulling it forward slightly to reveal some cleavage. He stuffed the bullet down the front of her shirt and then stood up. "See, the bullet disappeared! TAADAA! I told you that you didn't need a doctor for that!"Joker shrieked with laughter.  


Blood poured out of Ellie's leg as her vision went fuzzy, and seconds later she blacked out...

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	6. Chapter 6

Ellie awoke some time later, her whole body aching from the previous events. She found herself in a bed with green sheets and a purple comforter. The comforter was wrapped around her body as if she had been tossing and turning as she had slept. It was only half covering her because the other half of the blanket fell over the bed onto the floor. She was definitely a rough sleep. From her waist down stuck out of the covers, and Ellie noticed that she had only been wearing her pajama tank top as well as her light blue cotton panties. Her thigh, shoulder, and arm had been bandaged up, although the bandages were already starting to get blood-soaked. She then wasn't too worried as to why she had no pants on because it was clear that the only way to bandage up her thigh was to get the pants out of the way. But it was still unsettling none the less.

Ellie groaned at the sight of herself as well as the stiffness and soreness that her body felt. Rolling over carefully, Ellie shut her eyes once more, not wanting to acknowledge where she was or any potential danger that she could be in. All she wanted was to rest and pray that she felt better when she woke back up.

However, her plan of going back to sleep was cut short when she felt a hand gently caress her bum. Then hearing the sound of that high-pitched childish voice made sleeping for Ellie the last thing she wanted to do. "Wakey wakey!" It said as he now patted her bum softly. '_I am so glad I'm not wearing a thong…_' Ellie thought to herself, not even having to look to see who was touching her.

Ellie grabbed the covers and pulled them fully onto her body, covering up her head as well. She knew that she should probably be on alert with the Joker being even in the same room as her, let alone being this close, but the thought of sleep started to engulf her mind again.

Once again, her plan didn't work because the Joker grabbed the covers and ripped them completely off of her. Throwing them to the floor, the Joker glared down at Ellie, his eyes narrowed and his lips were, for once, turned into an angry frown. "You're lucky you're even still alive, so I wouldn't push it. Now. Get. Up." He said darkly, still glaring down at Ellie.

Ellie leaned up against the bed headboard and looked down at her body once more, taking in the fact that her bigger wounds had been bandaged. That was definitely unlike the Joker. Curiosity got the better of her, and so Ellie looked up at the Joker and asked pointing down at her bandages, "Why'd you do this?"

At the question, the Joker sat down onto the bed, getting close up to Ellie's face. His voice then changed to a low, sinister tone as he said, "If I hadn't, you'd be dead. And you can't die yet. Oh no. Not when the funs just beginning! I've been looking everywhere for you. And now that I have you, I'm going to make it worth my while." The Joker let out one of his nasty cackles and pulled out a knife, "I gotta let some of these heal so I can then make more" He said in the same menacing tone, referring to her wounds that he had made. "But then again, waiting for that might take too long, and I'm an man with little patience, sooo…"

The knife made a jagged cut down alongside her collarbone. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to hold in her whimpers of pain. The Joker removed his knife, watching the blood slowly seep through the fresh cut. He hadn't made it too deep, but it was enough. Enough to satisfy himself…for now at least.

"You know, you're right. I don't think these suit you…" The Joker said, eyeing her body. Ellie didn't know exactly what he was talking about, but remained still and keeping her guard up. A moment later, Ellie's bewilderment was resolved when the Joker took his knife and cut off the bandages that had been wrapped around his latest magic trick on her leg. She winced, her leg being her most painful area at that moment.

The Joker continued cutting off her bandages from the rest of the wounds that had been covered, not taking care of accidently cutting her here and there. Once all the bandages where removed, the Joker sat back and examined her, "There. Much better. You look better covered in blood." More of the Joker's sick laughter filled the room. His finger then traced the 'Joker' carving he had made in her arm as a grin spread over his face. His property had been returned to him.

"I still don't like that little 'cover up' you put on your back. Looks tacky. But I guess the tramp needed her stamp." He said in a mocking tone, busting up with laughter once again. Ellie glared at him as he continued laughing. She finally found her voice and said, "I really don't give a damn 

what you think about it." Her voice clearly dripped with the anger she was feeling towards him. Finally an emotion that was starting to overpower her fear. At her comment however, the Joker instantly stopped laughing and his face turned serious. Grabbing her ankle, he slid her down a bit so she was closer to him. He then easily flipped her with his hand to make it so she was lying on her stomach. He pinned her down by pushing tightly with one hand onto her upper back and with the other, lifted her shirt.

"Maybe I should just cut it off then." He whispered in a cold, dark tone that immediately put the fear right back into Ellie. She felt the cold blade against her back where her tattoo was and knew that he wouldn't hesitate do literally cut it out. She began to breathe heavy as terror swept through her body, "Please, don't…I'm sorry if you don't like it…it was…I um-" She said, her voice starting to get panicky. She had been through a lot of pain, but this would probably top the cake and that was something that Ellie didn't want to experience.

Another one of Joker's fits of laughter filled the air. "Don't worry. I wouldn't do that here. You'd mess up my sheets with all that blood…I'll save it for later when I need a little pick-me-up." He said sardonically, his grin barely containing his laughter. "But for now sweetcheeks, we need to go visit your buddy Coletti. We couldn't do it last night cuz you passed out." '_Jeez...I wonder why…'_ Ellie thought to herself. The Joker continued, "So you've got to put some clothes on so we can go. Or is Coletti used to seeing you without any clothes on?" Joker asked mockingly, laughing and patting her butt once more before he got up and left the room. Ellie rolled out of bed, wondering how soon the Joker would kill her once he found out the truth…

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	7. Chapter 7

Ellie got out of bed, but as soon as she tried to stand on her own, she tumbled to the floor. She hissed as pain shot up through her injured leg. Pulling herself back onto her feet, Ellie managed to steady herself as she applied most of her weight onto her uninjured leg.

Looking around the room, she saw that she was in fact in Joker's room, having remembering it from when she had worked for him. If she was in his room, then that meant that her old room was just down the hall; assuming that it was still her room, but Ellie doubted it.

Limping towards the door, Ellie pulled it open and looked down both directions of the hallway. No one was in sight. Ellie turned left and hobbled along, using the wall for support.

Finally reaching the door that she recognized as being once hers, she slowly opened it, mostly expecting to find it empty or being someone else's new bedroom. But once she opened the door, she saw her room exactly the same way she had left it before she went and betrayed the 

Joker. Well...it wasn't _exactly _in the same condition…all her possessions were in the room, the room was still the same light blue color, and she still had her bed and dresser; the only difference was that the room had been completely trashed.

Her mattress of her bed was now on the floor, a huge slash through it which appeared to be from a knife; the curtains also had knife slits through them. Her dresser drawers were open, some completely taken out, clothes were thrown everywhere. The mirror that had been on her wall was smashed, shards of glass littering the floor. But the worst part had to be the walls.

Obscenities were written all along the walls in a reddish color that could easily be mistaken for blood. Actually, Ellie wasn't quite sure what the words were written in and it could in fact have been blood. She shuttered at the thought. On her back wall was a huge portrait of a smiling face in the same red color. The other walls were covered with threats and other words that wouldn't be appropriate in a civil conversation.

Ellie managed to snap out of her initial shock as she walked into the room, being careful not to trip on anything. She walked to the wall that had the face on it and she lightly touched it. The substance was dried a now deep crimson which gave Ellie a stronger feeling that it was blood. Looking at the other walls, Ellie silently read words such as: kill, bitch, die, whore; you get the picture.

"Like what I've done with the place? It needed a little redecoration." A voice said behind Ellie, making her jump and yank her hand away from the graffiti. She turned around and saw the Joker leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed and looking around, admiring his work.

"Let's just say I wasn't very happy when you left." He said, looking around the room, and then focusing his gaze on Ellie. '_Jeez, ya think' _

He walked towards her, but Ellie stood her ground, not really having anywhere to go anyways. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "But now that you're back, I'm not angry anymore because I know just how much fun we'll have together. Even if you'll only be around for a short time." He said in a creepy, calm voice as he forced her head to lay in his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Why don't you just let me go...I'll pay back all the money, I swear I will." Ellie said quietly, still with her head against his chest. She felt his chest move rapidly as he let out a shrill of laughter, the sound making her wince. Joker pulled her away from him, but held onto her arms as he stared at her. His grin was wide as he caressed her cheek. "Oh no, no, no, no. What would be the fun in that? No, no, you need to stay here. Stay with me until I'm ready to get rid of you. Yeah, that's what you'll do…it'll be so much fun! Oh El! I could just kiss you!" He squealed childishly as both hands grabbed the sides of her face, making her look at him.

Ellie looked at him disgustingly, "Please don't" She said with a hint of attitude. This wiped the grin off Joker's face, and his expression instantly turned to fury. '_There goes the Bi-Polar again_'

"I thought I told you to get dressed. Hurry up and do it." He said icily, letting his hands drop from her face as he continued to stare at her with cold eyes.

Ellie made sure to not turn her back to the Joker as she searched the room for something to wear. Quickly, she pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a simple green top. Remembering that the weather was cool this time of year, she grabbed a hoodie and threw it on. She then turned to the Joker, showing him that she was ready. He still had a scowl on his face from her last comment, and then turned and walked out of the messy room.

She followed, still limping, until they got to the garage of the warehouse. Three men in clown masks stood next to the beaten up van, all with guns in their hands. Ellie recognized the masks, but didn't think that they were the same men that she used to work with. Joker had a tendency to kill his employees after awhile, then he would go out and hire more. She'd never understand the wacko's thinking.

Joker signaled for one of the men to open the back of the van. He did as he was instructed to do, and the three men then piled into the van. Ellie stood there, but before she could get in, she was pushed roughly, falling into the van. The floors were now partially cleaned of the blood from Ellie, most likely cleaned by one of the three men that sat in the van with her. The back doors slammed shut and Ellie made sure this time to climb onto a seat and strap herself in with the seatbelt.

Of course the Joker's driving was crazy, but Ellie this time wasn't sliding all over the place, much to her relief.

The van then stopped in front of a large hotel/casino and the three men along with Ellie climbed out of the van as the Joker stood there impatiently waiting for them. "You go in and talk to him first, we'll follow behind." The Joker whispered harshly into her ear as he nudged her forward towards the front entrance.

Ellie limped inside, looking quickly behind her, seeing that the Joker and the men were nowhere in sight. Shrugging it off, Ellie went to the front desk, seeing a woman in her mid-thirties, dressed in a nice skirt with a dress shirt. Her hair pulled up into a loose bun as she smiled widely at Ellie. "Welcome, may I help you?" She said sweetly.

"I need to talk with the owner. It's very important." Ellie said back, sounding annoyed. The smile on the lady's face fell, "I'm sorry, but Mr. Coletti is a very busy man. He doesn't really have the time to--"

"Tell him Ellie Turner is here to speak with him." Ellie said, interrupting her. The lady looked at her skeptically, but grabbed a phone and started talking quietly into it. After a moment, she hung up the phone and looked at Ellie, "Mr. Coletti will see you now. His office is on the seventh floor." Without another glance, Ellie walked to the elevator.

At the seventh floor, Ellie walked until she saw a door with a plaque that read, "Vincent Coletti, Owner". Ellie took a deep breath of air and knocked on the door. When she heard a deep voice say "Come in," Ellie opened the door, stepping into a large, well decorated office.

Behind a mahogany desk sat a man in his late fifties, staring at Ellie with a calm, yet loathing expression. Two men stood at either side of him, both muscular and wearing all black.

"Well well. Ellie Turner. I thought for sure you'd be dead by now." He spoke with a sort of New York sounding accent. Both of his elbows rested on his desk, hands crossed together with his chin on top of them as she continued to eye her.

"Well it would appear that I'm not dead wouldn't it?" Ellie shot back coldly, glaring daggers at the man across from her. Vincent Coletti chuckled a bit, "I guess it would appear so. But you must be pretty stupid to come back here. You know, I'm actually quite surprised that the Joker freak hasn't found you yet. Maybe he realized that you're just not worth it."

"Not exactly." A cold, high-pitched voice said, making everyone jump. A sinister laugh filled the room as the Joker stepped in. Vince Coletti looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

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	8. Chapter 8

"Joker! Joker boy! What a surprise!" Coletti exclaimed with a nervous laugh, "Can I offer you a drink?"

Joker simply stared at him, and then lowered his gun. He placed it inside his jacket and began clapping his hands together. Coletti watched the Joker carefully, as the Joker continued clapping.

The clapping then suddenly stopped as the Joker smiled wide, an evil gleam in his eye. He shook a finger at Coletti, "I gotta hand it to you. You sure know how to spend other people's money. I mean, look at this place!" Joker said as he dramatically threw his hands into the air.

The Joker walked around the large office, his hands behind his back, as he eyed different paintings and pictures that hung on the wall. He stopped at one and cocked his head to the side. Using his hands, he straightened the painting slightly, although from a distance, the painting looked absolutely fine. The Joker stuck his tongue out to the side of his mouth with his eyes narrowed; concentrating hard on making sure the painting was perfectly hung straight on the wall.

Coletti watched the Joker like he was nuts (well…). Finally, after a moment of complete silence, the Joker yelled, "THERE!", making Ellie, as well as Coletti, jump slightly.

The Joker finally turned away from the painting and looked back towards Coletti. Joker's eyes were all squinty as he flung his hands in front of him, "Don't you hate it when things are all…crooked?"

The Joker pulled his gun back out and stared at it, "I know I do."

Coletti eyed the man on his left, as if mentally telling him to keep his eyes open. Ellie guessed the two men were 'bodyguards,' but she wasn't sure that these two men could save Coletti from the Joker. Coletti looked back at the Joker, his voice thick with a New York like accent, "Look, if ya pissed about the money, go after the girl. She stole it from ya, and then I just simply took it off her hands." Coletti motioned over to Ellie, looking at her as if she was a piece of crap on the bottom of his shoe.

Ellie noticed this and glared at him and took a step towards him, ready to lunge, "You motherfucker! It's because of you that--" "Hey, hey hey. Let's not point the blame here." Joker said, sticking his arm out, blocking Ellie from advancing any further to Coletti. "If anyone's going to point the blame, it's going to be me. I'm the one that got screwed here, and I don't like that. Not. One. Bit." The Joker said, his voice suddenly turning cold.

The Joker turned towards Coletti, gun now pointed at him. Coletti's eyes widened, "Look pal, don't be pointin' that gun at me. That bitch stole it from you! I had nothing to do with it!" Joker laughed at this, "Since when does the mob have the balls to blackmail _my_ employees without _my_ consent?"

Coletti looked at the Joker, his face full of puzzlement, "What the hell are you talking about??"

Ellie slightly gulped, she knew the shit was about to hit the fan.

The Joker started at Coletti for a few moments as if trying to find truth in his eyes. He then turned to look at Ellie, but still held the gun to Coletti. The Joker smacked his lips together, looking down at her with his eyebrows raised.

"H-he's lying. He made me steal from you. He--" Ellie stuttered, but was interrupted be Coletti who stood up from his desk, and slammed his hands down, "Is that what she told you!? That I blackmailed her to rip you off??" The Joker took his gaze off of Ellie and back on Coletti, now interested on what he had to say.

Coletti continued, "She stole your money then came to me, asking for protection! I wasn't about to waste my time protecting a worthless nobody, so I took her money. I had no idea where she got it! That deceiving bitch is lying to you and you believed her!?"

The Joker looked slowly back and forth between the two of them. "Well well, what a preDiCaMENT we have here…" He tapped a finger to his chin. "And how do we decide who's lying? Maybe I should just shoot you both and then I wouldn't have to worry about it…"

Coletti's two bodyguards started to move forward, but were stopped when the three masked clown men from before stepped in and pointed their guns at them.

Joker was about to say something else, but another man burst into the office, a panicked look on his chubby face, "Boss, boss. There--" He stopped as he saw the situation that was taking place inside the office. "What is it!?" Coletti yelled, clearly aggravated. The man looked around, his gaze stopped on the Joker; after all, the Joker was probably the most interesting looking person in the room. Keeping his cautious eyes on the Joker, the man continued, "Um…the, uh, cops are here…they say they gots warrants…"

Coletti cursed loudly, but didn't make any sudden moves since the Joker's gun was still pointed at him."

Before anyone could react, the man was hit in the back of the head and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Behind him stood a figure dressed in an all black. "Ooohh…the Batman wants to join in on the fun!" The Joker shrieked eagerly. "Boys…" As soon as the Joker spoke, the three masked men pointed their guns at Batman and fired.

Ellie gave a little yelp and knelt down, covering her head as bullets flew past. Batman managed to dodge the men's bullets. He got behind one of them and knocked the gun out of his hand. Batman punched the man in face and then turned around and kicked another.

Ellie saw Coletti sneak out of the room; she looked over and saw the Joker shoot off a few rounds at Batman. With him and everyone else distracted, Ellie also snuck out of the room. Once out, Ellie looked and saw Coletti slip down the left side of the hallway and then turn another corner and was out of sight. She decided to go the opposite direction. Unfortunately for her, this was a mistake.

Quickly turning down another hall, she heard a voice behind her as well as the sound of a gun being cocked. "Freeze and put your hands up!" Ellie recognized the voice. She turned towards the man and smirked. He was probably in his forties; had short brown hair, a mustache, and glasses. His gun was pointed straight at her, his expression looked tired, but still had the 'I-mean-business' feel to it.

"Officer Gordon! It's been too long! How've you been? What about the kids? Are they good?" Ellie said mockingly. She had been arrested by this man on several occasions, but had always managed to make bail, or escape altogether; all from the help of her former boss. Gordon 

couldn't stand this. It truly got under his skin. Justice had never truly been served with her. But for some reason, Ellie had the feeling that the Joker wouldn't come to her rescue this time.

"Get on the ground! NOW!" Ellie considered her situation. She thought about running, and under any other circumstance, she would have. But her injured leg wouldn't get her very far. "I said, get on the ground!!" Ellie mentally kicked herself for not having a weapon of any kind on her. So instead, Ellie slowly started to back away, giving Gordon a sweet smile. "I'd love to stick around, but I've got more important things to do right now…"

She continued backwards, but stopped when her back hit something…or someone. Two hands grabbed Ellie's arms roughly. She winced as one of the hands gripped her carving of the Joker's name on her arm. A leg then kicked her feet out from under her, and Ellie flew to the ground, landing roughly on her stomach.

She groaned as a forearm pressed tightly on the back of her neck. "God damn! Get the fuck off of me!" Ellie managed to say, but then felt the pressure on the back of her neck increase, making her face be pressed hard to the floor.

Officer Gordon walked towards her, his gun still cautiously pointed at her. The mystery person then got off of Ellie as Gordon quickly handcuffed her.

Once handcuffed, the mystery person yanked Ellie up to a standing position by her arm. She looked and saw the person being none other than Batman. '_How the hell did he get back here so fast??' _"Thanks, I'll take it from here." Gordon said, taking Ellie's arm and giving a quick appreciative nod towards Batman.

Gordon led Ellie down the hall, "This time you'll be sentenced and thrown in jail. And I'll make sure you don't play that Houdini act this time." Ellie smirked, "Good luck with that."

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	9. Chapter 9

Once at the police station, Ellie was taken out of the police car and into the building. Inside, the atmosphere was buzzing. Officers scrambled around, focused on the tasks they had to do, and the criminals inside various cells were shouting and hollering incoherent meaninglessness. It was exactly what you'd expect to find inside a big city police station; organized chaos.

Ellie was handed off to a young officer who looked like he was just fresh out of the Academy. He took her and lead her to the 'Check-In' area. A small, golden name plate shined on the man's uniform reading, 'Officer Wilson.'

Ellie grinned at him, "Wilson huh? You a rookie? I haven't seen you around here before." She loved messing with the cops. There was nothing that irritated her more than the 'pigs in blue,' so trying to get inside their heads was always entertaining for her; of course she wasn't as much of a pro at it like the Joker, but it was still fun.

Officer Wilson simply ignored her as he took off her handcuffs, shoving her against the wall. She stood there, both hands on the wall as she was patted down. "Hey, watch where you're grabbing! I don't think your wife would appreciate you feeling me up." She said, once again just trying to mess with him. She didn't know if the man was even married, but the gold band on his left ring finger gave her a pretty good clue.

Once satisfied that she didn't have anything on her, Wilson grabbed her roughly, spinning her around to face him. He handcuffed her hands once more, this time in the front. Ellie noticed that the handcuffs were slightly tighter on her wrists than they normally should have been. She smirked, knowing that she had gotten under his skin in a matter of minutes.

Ellie was fingerprinted and 'processed' as she liked to call it, and then put into a holding cell with four other men. Wilson still hadn't spoke, but it was clear that he was irritated.

Walking over to the cell door, Ellie peeked through the bars, "Hey! I'm suppose to get my own cell! You're not suppse to put me in a cell with guys. Didn't they teach you that at the Academy?" Wilson turned to her and finally spoke, his voice was deep, making his annoyance even more apparent, "Sit down and shut the hell up."

Ellie laughed, shaking her head, "I like you Wilson." She said, going over and sitting on one of the benches. The guys eyed her. Whistling and cat calls could be heard from the nearby cells, but she simply ignored them all.

She needed to think about how she was going to get out of here. She had always relied on the Joker in a situation like this, but there was no reason for him to come get her this time.

Lost in her own little world, Ellie was snapped back into reality when she felt a hand on her thigh. "Hey baby, the cops ain't lookin'. How bout a quickie?"

Ellie looked at the man. You know those types of people where all you have to do is look at them and you can tell that they're a Meth addict? Well yeah, this guy would be one of them. His cheeks were sunken in, his teeth needed some serious toothbrush action, and he was skinnier than a pole. Someone you definitely wouldn't want to take home to mom and dad. Ellie stood up and walked to the other side of the cell away from the creeper, "You wish" she scoffed to him.

Never before had Ellie ever been put in a men's cell. She had always been put with other women, or had gotten a cell to herself if no other women were imprisoned at the time. But Ellie guessed that there were no open cells for her right now. The jails were packed because of the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent. Locking up half the city's criminals? Ellie had to meet this guy. Not only was he a very attractive man from what she had seen from t.v., but he'd also be very fun to mess with...'_Damn, I should really stop thinking like the Joker...'_ Little did Ellie know that she'd be meeting that exact man very soon.

A few hours later, Ellie was taken out of her cell and brought into a room she was very familiar with. A room that she had given countless officers headaches because of her lack of cooperation; the Interrogation Room.

She was left in the room by herself, so she sat back in her chair and propped her feet on the table, folding her hands, which were still in handcuffs, across her chest.

Moments later, Gordon walked in, "Gordon! I've missed you!" She said, smiling mockingly. Gordon simply walked over and pushed her feet off the table, and then sat in the chair opposite of her.

"Where's he hiding?" Gordon asked slowly, as if trying to remain calm even though he knew the woman sitting in front of him probably wouldn't give him any of the answers he seeked. Ellie shrugged, "I don't know. I don't work for the guy anymore."

"I find that hard to believe."He replied, closing his eyes and lightly pinching the bridge of his nose. "You look tired Gordon. Everything alright on the home-front?" Gordon let out an annoyed sigh, "I'd like to ask the questions if you don't mind."

"Alright, alright! No prob. So to answer your first question, again, I am not working for that psycho." Gordon looked at her, a tired, yet for the most part, emotionless look on his face. He spoke, still in the calm tone, "If that's the case, then why were you seen with him at Vincent Coletti's hotel?"

Ellie didn't answer for a moment. Instead, she stared up at the ceiling. After a minute or so, Ellie kept her stare upwards as if there were something fascinating about a plain, white ceiling, "Let me ask you Gordon. Why did you and your men go to Coletti's hotel in the first place? Surely you couldn't have known the Joker would be there."

"Like I said, I'd like to be the one asking the questions." Gordon replied, staring at Ellie even though her gaze remained fixed on the ceiling.

Ellie finally looked away to stare directly at Gordon, "Maybe I'd feel more willing to cooperate if you answered some of my questions too Gordon." He sighed, knowing that the interrogation was going no where, "If you must know, the District Attorney found reasons to believe that Vince Coletti was peddling drugs out of his hotel." Ellie laughed at this, and mumbled, "He was doing a lot more than that..."

Gordon looked at her questioningly, "What do you mean by that?" Ellie shrugged and simply said, "I don't know." Gordon was starting to get irritated, his voice made it very apparent, "No! You do know! Why would someone, who used to work for the Joker, know what a mob boss like Coletti is doing?" Ellie shrugged again. She began biting on a hangnail as she looked past Gordon as if barely listening to what he was saying; again, just trying to mess with him.

"You're working for Coletti aren't you?" For the fourth time, Ellie shrugged, "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I guess either way is possible."

"You're not going to cooperate with me are you?" Gordon asked, getting more annoyed by each passing minute.

She shrugged again, knowing it was pissing him off, "It's just...you and I...we've been through these little 'talks' a million times before...You're just starting to...I don't know...bore me."

Gordon hastily stood up from his chair and stared down at her. "Fine. Maybe I can find someone you'd be more willing to talk too." He said, almost in a threateningly manner which surprised Ellie. He wasn't the type to make threats, or at least she had never heard one escape his lips before. But he didn't scare her. She'd just pull the same routine with them too.

Gordon left the room. About 20 minutes later, a new man came in. Ellie almost snorted with laughter. This is the guy Gordon had threatened her with? This had to be a joke! Ellie thought as she tried holding back her laugher.

The man shut the door behind him and strode over to where Gordon had previously sat. He remained standing, however, placing both hands on the table and leaning forward, eyeing Ellie, a stern look on his face. He had neat, blonde hair, and gorgeous eyes. He wore the whole business suit and tie sha-bang, and had a very 'upper-class' feel about him. Two words came to Ellie's mind: Total Yuppie.

It was the man Ellie had been eager to meet. He thought he was so superior, and probably had total confidence that he'd make her talk. _'Well he's got another thing coming' _Ellie thought, a cocky smirk visible on her face as she stared back at the man in front of her. District Attorney, Harvey Dent.

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	10. Chapter 10

Ellie and Dent continued to stare at each other. Finally, he spoke, "You're going to tell me what I want to know whether you like it or not." Ellie grinned at him, "I can see that you're a man that likes to get right down to business. No sugar-coating anything with you. I bet Rachel likes that, doesn't she?"

Rachel Dawes. The assistant DA. Someone Ellie had also seen on T.V. Ellie could only guess that Dent and Dawes had something going on between the two of them. But Dent's next actions told Ellie everything she needed to know about the matter.

He slammed his hands down on the table in front of him, his face turned a slight shade of red form the anger that was already starting to boil. "I'm not going to play games with you." "I didn't know we were. But if you'd like to Mr. Dent, I enjoy Monopoly, Clue, Twister..." She said mockingly. Once again, Harvey's temper was shown as he violently shoved the table out of the way and got right in Ellie's face.

"I have enough evidence against you to put you away for multiple life sentences; so it would be wise on your part to cooperate with me." His voice had turned venomous and his eyes narrowed, but Ellie was far from being intimidated by him. He couldn't do anything to her. Not here. Not when several detectives were probably watching through the two-way mirror that was standard in any police station interrogation room. He had a name to protect, and as DA, he wouldn't risk tarnishing it. But it didn't hurt for Ellie to try and push him to the edge.

"I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to the criminal justice system...I never get that far in the conviction process to actually really learn anything." She smirked at this, knowing that because she had always escaped before she could even get sent to county, it would probably piss off the golden boy Dent. She continued, "Anywho, I had a question. Why is it that people can get 'multiple life sentences?' I mean, are some criminals like cats? They've got 9 lives or something? OR is it that politicians, lawyers, judges...defense attorneys...are too stupid to realize that something like that makes absolutely no sense?"

Harvey stood straight up, looking away. His hand was rubbing his forehead as if trying to stay as calm as possible and refrain from hitting her.

After a minute or so, Harvey looked at her, his voice was almost shaking as he tried to keep his anger under control, "Are you working for the Joker?" Ellie shrugged like she had done to Gordon, "Anything is possible. But since I told Gordon, I think it's only fair that I tell you too. So no, I'm not anymore. But I'm not telling you where he's at either, so save your breath."

"If you're not working for him, then why are you protecting him? He's not going to come for you. He has no reason to." Ellie knew that Dent had no idea whether or not the Joker would come for her, but like Ellie, Dent liked to make inferences. "I don't expect him to come." Ellie replied, narrowing her eyes slightly at him.

Harvey stared at her, thinking of something that he could use to make her talk. He seemed deep in thought as he looked her over. His eyes then moved to her arm. He half-smirked as he moved closer. "Or could it be that you are in fact not working for him like you used to because instead you now provide him with other 'services?'" He was now standing at her side, eyeing the 'Joker' carving on her arm. "Was this his way of marking you as his property?"

This actually surprised Ellie. She didn't think he'd hit her with such a low blow as that statement. It had actually touched a nerve in her. The fact that he thought he knew everything truly pissed her off. Not to mention his widening smirk because he knew that he had finally gotten to her.

She was now glaring at him. Her previous smirk was long gone. "I'm not going to tell you shit, so why don't you run along and go fuck Rachel Dawes while she's still around." She said coldly.

Much to Ellie's satisfaction, her comment wiped the smirk off of Dent's face exactly like he had done to her moments before. "What do you mean by that??" His voice had turned to ice. "What do I mean by what?" She asked, her voice had turned back to its normal smart ass tone. "What do you mean by 'while she's still around?'"

"Oh! Well I just thought that since you're the new District Attorney, all of Gotham's criminals would probably want to hit ya where it hurts the most. So, it won't be too long before they find, kidnap, and kill your...lover." She said, sounding disgusted by the word 'lover.'

"Are you making a death threat against the assistant DA Rachel Dawes?" He asked in his courtroom, business-like voice. At least that's what it sounded like to Ellie. It was funny. He never actually fully admitted to having a relationship with Rachel. Probably to keep it on the 'DL.' Well it was too late for him to be cautious now. "I'm not making any threats against her. I don't make threats unless I can back them up, and it doesn't look like I can kill her while I'm sitting her in your jail, now does it? But what I am saying is that _they _won't make any threats. They'll go straight to taking action. If I were you, I wouldn't let your girlfriend out of your sight." She was trying to psych him out, and it seemed to be working. Once again, Ellie had gained control of the conversation.

She noticed the side of Harvey's lip twitch. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the door flew open. There stood Gordon, looking livid. "What are you doing here?? I didn't call for you!" He said furiously, looking at Harvey.

"Excuse me Gordon, but I am the District Attorney, and I have the right to interrogate any suspect that I want." It was clear that there was much tension between the two men. Most likely due to their giant egos. A perfect opportunity for Ellie: "Am I done here? I really don't feel like listening to your little lovers quarrel. I don't think Rachel would like that too much Harvey if she knew that you and Gordon were..." She stopped there, but raised her eyebrows dramatically as both men looked at her. Harvey's face contorted with fury.

He looked back at Gordon and said, "Fine. Bring him in. I don't care anymore." With that, Harvey left the room, slamming the door behind him. Ellie started laughing, "He's SO fun to mess with! God, that guy can't take a joke." Gordon looked at her disapprovingly before also leaving the room.

Ellie sat alone once more, this time, literally twiddling her thumbs out of boredom. Moments later, the door opened. This time it wasn't Gordon nor Dent. Ah, so Harvey wasn't the man that Gordon had tried to threaten her with. It was the man that stood in the doorway. The Dark Knight himself.

Ellie stared at him, a little confused. Since when did they have Batman start doing interrogations? But Ellie had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to pull off many smart remarks with him like she had done to Gordon and Dent.

Batman walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. He stopped a few feet away from Ellie and looked down at her. "Where is he??" He said, his voice was overly deep. It was obvious that whoever Batman really was, it wasn't his normal voice, but a small disguise to hide his true identity.

"Where's who?" Ellie said, playing the 'stupid act' with him. To Ellie's surprise, Batman roughly grabbed the front of her shirt, "Where's the Joker!?" She stared at him, a cocky expression now spread over her face. "What'd you gonna do? You can't hit a lady..."

Once again, Batman shocked her with his actions, but this time, he lifted her out of her chair and threw her against the wall, pinning her there, "You're not a lady. You're scum. Just like the rest of them. Now, I'm going to give you one more chance: Where's the Joker?!" Ellie's feet were dangling off the ground as Batman held onto the front of her shirt with both hands, his face inches away from hers.

Ellie stared at the masked man, and then spat in his face. She was thrown to the floor as Batman wiped his face with his hand.

She felt a sharp pain in her ribs as Batman kicked her. "Where is he!?" She looked up at him, her breathing had quickened due to the kick. "You know, you're just like him... Just like the Joker...Some hero you are." She watched his as he clenched his fists. He quickly picked her up once more, throwing her against another wall. Her back ached, and she winced slightly, but otherwise held in any pain she felt. After all, she had felt worse. Batman then brought her forward a bit, and then slammed her back against the wall again.

He repeated this maneuver several times until she finally let out a small gasp of pain. Her vision started going a little fuzzy due to her head being slammed repeatedly onto the wall.

"Tell me where he is!" He raised his fist, but was interrupted from a voice coming from the doorway. "Gordon would like me to take her back to her cell now." Ellie managed to look over to the doorway. There stood another officer she had never seen before. He wore the standard blue police uniform, and one of those goofy looking police hats which covered most of his hair. His eyes were dark, but otherwise was somewhat handsome. The name on his badge read 'Officer Wilson.' Ellie stared at it, confused. This wasn't the same Wilson that she had seen earlier, but she just shrugged it off, thinking that Wilson was a common name, and it was most likely that there was more than one Officer Wilson.

Batman reluctantly let her go, letting Ellie fall to the ground. He left the room, clearly irritated by the interruption.

Wilson came over to her, grabbing her arm roughly and lifting her to her feet. "Let's go sweetcheeks." Ellie's attention was quickly turned to him. Only one person ever called her that name... The 'Officer' dragged her along, back to the cell, neither one of them speaking.

She was then thrown into her cell, and she heard the cell door shut behind her. Looking over at 'Officer Wilson,' she saw him give her a grin and a quick wink before walking off, whistling loudly.

He had come for her...but why'd he put her back in the cell? He wouldn't try to get her hopes up and then watch them shatter by just leaving her there, would he? _'Of course he would...he's the Joker...' _Ellie thought to herself. But another part of her was kind of glad that he had left her there. At least she was somewhat safe inside her jail cell...safe from him.

The rest of the day, she hadn't seen anymore of Gordon, Dent, or 'Wilson.' Nightfall came and Ellie watched most of the officers leave to go home. She then overheard two of the remaining officers talking to each other, "No, you can go home. The rookie Wilson offered to take care of the night shift." Ellie froze. He hadn't left her, he had just been waiting.

She watched both officers leave, one locking the entrance doors as he left. As soon as the two of them were out of sight, Ellie heard the sound of sick laughter fill the room...**his** laughter...

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	11. Chapter 11

The Joker stood outside Ellie's cell. It was hard to see his face because of the darkened building, but there was no doubt that it was him. His fits of giggles were a huge clue.

Next to him stood another man; well, the only reason he was standing was because the Joker had a good grip on the man's arm. The man seemed to be slightly hunched over as if not being able to stand on his own.

"What's it feel like? Do you feel like an animal trapped in a cage?...An animal that wants freedom, but doesn't have the key?" Joker's voice called out; this time in a serious tone.

Ellie sighed, "Just let me out will ya?" She saw him step closer to the cell, dragging the other man with him. He had stepped into the spot where moonlight shown through a window, revealing Joker to be back in his usual outfit, with newly applied make-up on his face. The man beside him was Officer Wilson (the real one this time), and he seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness. He wore a wife beater and a pair of boxers (what Ellie guessed had been his attire under his uniform before the Joker had 'borrowed' it).

The Joker raised his free hand, showing a ring of keys. He jingled them a few times before placing his head between the cell bars. "Lookie what I found! Tell me, how bad do you want out?"

Ellie scowled at him. She wasn't in the mood to play his games. But after all, she was dealing with the Joker... "Let me out!" She snapped. Joker's expression turned pouty as he pulled his head away from the cell bars. "Now is that anyway to ask? You didn't even say 'please!'" He whined, stomping his foot down, like a five year old throwing a tantrum.

Ellie sighed again, and this time said a little more calmly, "Will you let me out of the cell, _please_?" He continued to stare at her, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek, looking like he was mulling over whether to let her out or not.

"How about you _beg_ me to let you out..." His voice had turned dark and a malicious grin crept onto his face. He then stuck out a finger and pointed to a spot inside the cell, close to where he was standing on the outside. She glared at him for a few seconds, but moved to the spot that he had indicated anyway. "Please--"

"No, no, no..." he interrupted, wiggling his finger downward, his grin getting more evil by every passing moment. Ellie gave him one of those 'are-you-kidding-me?' type of looks, but after getting a nod from the Joker, she reluctantly bent down and got on her knees.

While on her knees, she stared at the ground and said, with all the sincerity she could muster, "Please get me out of here..." She listened for some sort of response from him. When she didn't hear any, she figured that he was waiting to hear more, "I'm sorry if this has brought you any inconvenience, but I'll make it up to you if you let me out...please." She was totally pulling that speech out of her ass (figuratively of course), but it had to sound good if she wanted him to let her out.

"Such an obedient little puppy!" He said, reaching his hand through the bars and patting her head, "Nice view by the way..." The Joker said, breaking out into another fit of laughter. Ellie looked up at him, realizing that he had a full view down her shirt. Rolling her eyes, she stood back up and waited for him to unlock the cell. Ok, maybe she hadn't been exactly truthful when she had said that she would rather be with him, buy hey, if it would get her out of this hell hole...

Once the door was opened, the Joker threw Wilson inside, who landed roughly on his stomach, a groan escaping his lips. Ellie looked down at the officer; he still looked to be in a daze, but looked like he was fighting to stay somewhat conscious. The next thing Ellie knew, she was also on the ground, due to a fist connecting with her cheek. "That's for getting caught." His foot then collided with her ribs, "And that's for having me come and save you, again."

The Joker then moved away from her and was now hunched over Wilson. Ellie moved slowly back to her feet, wincing as she did so, and looked over to see what the Joker was doing with Wilson.

He had hog-tied Wilson using bits of old rope, and was now putting what looked like a small explosive into his mouth. Once in, the Joker proceeded to duck tape Wilson's mouth shut. He then stood back up, admiring what he had just done. The Joker suddenly squealed in excitement, breaking out into a fit of giggles.

He twirled himself around, and then stopped when his body was facing Ellie. "Shall we?" He asked, motioning towards the door. She nodded, quickly leaving the cell with the Joker following close behind.

Once out, the Joker shut the cell door, using the keys to lock it back up, leaving Wilson helplessly inside. "Nighty night! Oh, and don't worry about oversleeping. I've set your alarm. It should blast you awake tomorrow. Or, maybe just blast you away..."

He had been laughing all the way out of the police station, down the block, and into the van. He hopped into the driver's seat as Ellie got into the passenger's.

The ignition started as Joker peeled out onto the road. He pressed his foot harder onto the gas pedal, swerving around cars and occasionally moving into the oncoming lanes.

Ellie grabbed the 'Oh Shit' handle, sinking into the seat to keep herself from sliding around too much. "Sooooo. What'd ya tell the coppers?" Joker asked, taking his eyes off the road to look at her. Ellie's eyes, however, were glued to the road; her body tensed as she heard honking horns and saw cars swerving out of the way to avoid getting hit. "Heeelllloooo??" He was still looking at her, his hands grasped the steering wheel, turning it wildly in every direction.

"I--I didn't tell them anything!" She shrieked in response to their van just barely missing an oncoming semi-truck. When she had worked for him, she had usually sat in the back of the van with the other guys, and so never really got a full view on just how bad Joker's driving really was. His attention, thankfully, went back onto the road, but the wild swerving didn't lessen.

"Nothing? Ahhh, you disappoint me El! I thought for sure you'd rat me out!" He was hunched over the steering wheel, now moving in between two oncoming cars, missing them by inches. "What could I possibly tell the cops that they didn't already know?" She replied, coldly. She was mad at herself because Dent had been right: She had protected the Joker. She could have easily told the cops where his hideout was. After all, she had no obligation to him. She didn't work for him anymore. Ellie wasn't sure if she hadn't told the cops because she simply just didn't want to cooperate with them, or because she was truly scared of what the Joker would do to her if she had told.

"Why'd you come for me?" She asked him, curious because he really didn't _have _to come for her. Especially with the events that had recently transpired. Her question, however, was simply laughed at. His fist banged on the steering wheel as he continued to break out his crazy laughter.

"Oh El! You're so funny!" He was panting out his words, recovering from his laughing attack. "Isn't it obvious? Them cops took something of mine, and I had to get it back. I mean, I know I haven't done my taxes in years, but they shouldn't come and take my property away!" Once again, high-pitched laughter filled the van. But he was the only one laughing at the joke. Ellie stared straight ahead, glaring out the window as the shrill laughter pierced her ears.

The Joker saw this and reached over, putting his gloved hand on her cheek, slapping it gently. "Ahhh...Come on. My jokes aren't _that _bad...What'd I say about not smiling? I can help you with your smile if you'd like..." Ellie ignored his comments, not caring about what the consequences could be.

"You know...It's really rude not to look at someone who is trying to talk to you." He said, his voice changing from being creepily playful to deadly as he forcefully grabbed her chin and jerked her head to make her look at him. He stared at her for a few moments, licking his lips habitually. Then he went back to looking at the road, took a sharp left turn, slammed on the brakes, and turned off the engine; they had arrived at the hideout.

The Joker's grasp never left her chin, and once they parked, he turned back to her. "Now why is it that you thought I'd leave you locked up princess? Hmm?" His face grew very close to hers, his grip tightening on Ellie's chin, making her wince. "Coletti" was the only word that her voice would allow her to say. The Joker's face became stern at this, "Mr. Coletti has seemed to, conveniently for him, disappeared. So until he decides to show up, I can't hold a grudge against you sweets." He said, stroking her hair. "But consider yourself..." He stopped, moving his eyes upward as he smacked his lips together, thinking of the right words to say, "on probation. So if I were you...I wouldn't do anything..._stupid_."

Ellie nodded, making the Joker's face light up, "Such a good girl! You make me so proud!" He squealed, pulling her into a tight hug that was almost suffocating.

The two of them made their way into the old warehouse that Joker liked to call 'home.' Ellie had decided that she wanted to go to bed, so she started to head down the hallway to her room. She was stopped, however, by the Joker's voice, "What are you doing?" he asked, skeptically, almost sounding offended that she hadn't asked permission to leave his presence. "I'm going to bed...if you don't mind." Joker waved a hand in dismissal, as he walked over to her, "No, no, you do need your rest. Got a big day ahead of you after all." It was Ellie's turn to be skeptical, "What do you mean?" He raised his eyebrows, "I've got a job for you to do of course!" He had said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Ellie narrowed her eyes at him, "What makes you think that I still work for you?" Of course once she had said it, she regretted it because his hand then grabbed a handful of her hair, and he pulled a knife out of nowhere, pressing it tightly to her throat. "What makes _you _think that you don't work for me?" He spat venomously.

She swallowed a mouthful of spit as she nervously looked at him, "I--I think I should go to bed now...I've got some work to do tomorrow..." she replied, hoping the comment would satisfy him. It seemed to, because a large grin swept over his face. "Let me tuck you in then!" His voice had changed back to sounding like an excited young boy...once again...bi-polar issues...

He followed her down the hall, but once she passed his room to go towards her old room, his hand grabbed her arm, making her stop. She looked behind her as Joker opened his bedroom door and dragged her inside. "Your room is much too filthy. SO it looks like you'll have to stay with me for awhile..."

Ellie mentally groaned. This was the last place she wanted to sleep at. She didn't want to share a room with him, let alone the same bed. The last time she had shared a bed with him, she had regretted it in the morning. It had been when she had first started working for him. She simply wanted to feel accepted by him, and he was just simply acting on natural male impulses...alcohol may or may not have been a factor...She had decided the next morning that it was the last time she would ever do _that_ with _him _because it had basically been horrible for her. Mainly because you should never do anything serious like that with someone who A) is a homicidal maniac and B) who loves blood more than he loves sex; he tends to try and incorporate both of them together. She still even had a knife scar running down her right breast from the incident. So naturally, she was leery about getting in the same bed with him.

Luckily, once she had climbed into bed, the Joker had only pulled the covers over her and kissed her on the forehead, "I'll see you in the morning sweets." His voice, however, was way to evil sounding for as calm as his actions were. This gave Ellie the impression that he was trying to lure her into a false sense of security...but she'd have to wait till morning to worry about Joker's ulterior motives...right now, all she wanted was sleep...

**Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! You guys rock! :D I'm always open for feedback, so don't hesitate to do so! Also, I do have a video/slideshow thing that I made that goes along with the story. If you'd like to see it, message me and I'll give you the link. ;) As always, I would love it if you'd review. Thanks again!**


	12. Chapter Prologue

**Alright, I've been asked by several people about Ellie's past and how she had first gotten involved with the Joker. Soooo...I've decided to write a little prologue about Ellie's past. I hope you enjoy, and maybe it'll answer anything that you may be wondering about her...If not, I guess message me and I can hopefully fill you in. :D  
Also, sorry if it sounds a little depressing...it's just how I picture Ellie's life.  
Thanks again for sticking with me this far! Please review!**

A younger Ellie Turner, 19 to be exact, woke up next to a strange man, old enough to be her father, that she had met the night before. She rolled out of bed, still completely naked, making her way to the bathroom of the motel room.

Slipping into the shower, she let the cold water run down her body, trying to wash away the guilt and shame that she felt. She had never wanted it to go this far. She was ok with stealing and even the occasional drug deal in order to make some extra cash, but this...

This was completely degrading...

She had been desperate for money. She had lived on her own since she was 17, and it was hard to find a decent job without having a high school diploma. So stealing had been her alternative for most of the time...

When Ellie had turned 16, her grandmother (who had custody of her) got ill. Ellie had quit high school to help her out, but was left on her own when her grandmother passed a year later.  


Ellie had been a result of her mother sleeping around, and so her mother could never pinpoint exactly who the father was. At age 10, Ellie was put into the custody of her grandmother after her mother was deemed unfit to parent, and then sent to rehab for alcoholism. Ellie didn't know, nor cared, about where she was now.

High school was when she had started petty shoplifting crimes, as well as experimented with alcohol and boys. Of course, the fact that she had been hanging out with what most people called 'a bad crowd', didn't help the matter.

So now, here she was. Age 19, in some motel with some guy...all for 150 dollars.

She turned off the shower, wrapped herself ina towel, and walked back into the room, where her 'client' still lay asleep.

Throwing her clothes back on, Ellie grabbed the man's pants that had been thrown to the floor the night before. Reaching in his back pocket, she found his wallet and took out the money that he had promised.

It didn't feel right though. Taking money for doing what she had done. It was that point that she had decided that she didn't want to do this ever again. She needed a real job...well a real job on the criminal level at least. Nothing that would stereotype her as a prostitute.

A few hours later, Ellie walked into a bar, fake I.D. in hand. It was the bar that the 'scum' of Gotham inhabited regularly. Cigarette smoke engulfed the room, music blared, and women danced on tables for men.

She ignored the several stares and whistles she was receiving from various men as she walked straight up to the bar counter. "Hey Benny." She called to the bartender. He was a middle aged, fat, little man whose grandparents probably emigrated from Italy.

He turned and flashed a smile at her, revealing a gold tooth that surprisingly matched a gold chain necklace around his neck. Most likely neither were real gold though; he was just a bartender after all.

"Hey Ellie.. What can I get for you?" She half-smiled at him, "Nothing to drink right now. I just came to ask if you knew anyone who's hiring at the moment?..."

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow slightly, "Did that guy not pay you enough last night or something?" She shook her head, forcing herself to let out a small chuckle, "No, I'm not talking about _that _kind of work...I was thinking more along the lines of getting my hands dirty in other ways. You know, vandalizing, stealing, the occasional hit..."

Benny sighed, "Look, I don't know of any mob boss, or even small crime lord that would hire a kid to work for them. Too many liabilities..." He saw that she was about to protest and so added, "I know you're not as old as you say you are Ellie. Hell, I've made a few fake I.D.'s in my day, and so I can also spot one from a mile away. And I'm telling you, as a friend, no one is going to hire a kid...You're better off getting an honest job at McDonald's."

"Oh, I don't know about that..." An eerie voice behind Ellie rang out, making her turn around to see who it belonged too.

She saw that the owner of the voice looked even creepier than his voice had sounded. Purple pants, a purple jacket, a green vest, and purple leather gloves. His hair was greasy and had a tint of green in his blondish-brown locks. But that wasn't even the worst part. The freak was wearing what seemed to be clown make-up. Dark black circles covered around his eyes and ruby red lipstick was on his lips that reached up to his cheeks. It looked to be covering up some nasty looking scars. The rest of his face was a chalk white color.

He smiled at her, revealing two rows of yellow teeth. "So you're on the job market I hear?" He asked, his voice high-pitched but still was very manly.

Ellie simply nodded at his question, but wasn't quite sure on what to make of this guy. It was obvious that he wasn't 'all there,' but still looked to be very intelligent for a man in clown make-up. "Well it seems like you're in luck!" He squealed, making Ellie flinch at the sudden change in his voice. "I am an...employer seeking to hire...no matter what their age..." He added, casting a quick glance at Benny.

"So how bout it? Of course, I wouldn't just let you into my little gang...you'd have to prove yourself, but you look like a very _eager _girl." He said, his tone a little darker than before, but Ellie didn't mind. She was too busy thinking about his proposition. Benny had been semi-right, no one else would hire her...except for this guy. So he was probably her only chance she had to work with the 'big dogs.'

She thought about it for a moment. Maybe she could work for this guy for a few months to get enough money, and then try and get her life back together. Go to college or something. She hadn't wanted to live a life of crime for the rest of her life, so it sounded like the perfect plan...Oh how wrong she could be...

Without even waiting for an answer, Clown Man pulled something oue of his pocket and handed it to her. A playing card with a Joker printed on it.

"Here's my card...call me when you're ready..."

**Ok, so hopefully that gave you a little idea of how she got involved with the Joker. Hope you enjoyed. Please review with feedback. Thanks! :D**


	13. Chapter 12

Ellie woke the next morning due to a loud _crash_ that had erupted within the room. She lifted her head from the pillow, seeing that she was still in Joker's room. She also saw the table that usually sat in front of his t.v. turned over, which was probably the cause of the 'crash' since it looked like it had been thrown into the wall.

Joker was standing in front of the t.v., his back facing Ellie. He was hunched over, even more than usual, with his shoulders moving up and down rapidly, suggesting that he was breathing heavy, probably out of anger. She couldn't see around him to look at what was on the t.v., but it sounded like the local news station.

The next moment, Joker had spun around and tipped over the couch, letting out a frustrated groan. Ellie had quickly laid her head back on her pillow, hoping he hadn't seen that she was awake. He was on one of his rampages again. She had learned in the past to stay as far away as possible from him when he got into one of these moods. He sure had one nasty temper.

She lay still, closing her eyes to make it appear that she was sleeping. Unfortunately, only seconds later, the blankets were ripped off of her…He had spotted her…

Her eyes shot open, seeing that he looked absolutely livid. '_Just great…' _Grabbing her arm, Joker roughly pulled her out of the bed, and dragged her over to the t.v.

"Look at this shit" He growled, dropping her in front of the t.v. She fell to her knees and cautiously looked up to see what had triggered his mood.

The screen flashed a live picture of the police station, perfectly intact. A helicopter flew overhead and several police cars, a Bomb Squad van, and a fire truck surrounded the building. Then a news reporter spoke, "Once again, the threat has been eliminated, and Officer Brian Wilson has been taken to Gotham General Hospital with minor injuries. No others have been injured." A picture of Ellie then flashed onto the screen, "Police are still looking for escaped convict Ellie Turner who seems to be connected with the planted bombs that were found early this morning. Any information leading to the arrest--"

Her attention was turned away from the t.v. when the Joker yelled, "You see that!? They're trying to cover it up! Oh they know the truth! They just don't want people to panic" He ranted, fluttering his hands dramatically in the air when he mentioned people panicking. "And who's that wise guy that decides to show up for work early before the bombs can go off!?"

He turned back to the t.v., placing a hand on either side of it. He glared at the screen, "Maybe they just need something big to happen. They're just _begging _me to give them something to really panic about. And I'm gonna give it to 'em. Just wait. When they're least expecting it, it'll happen. Then they'll really lose their minds!" He whispered to the t.v. darkly even though the news had cut to a commercial break. He then broke out in maniacal laughter.

Joker suddenly stopped laughing. "And maybe it'll give them a reason to mention my fucking name." He snarled. Ellie scooted away from him slightly, hoping he wasn't about to completely snap. She saw his hands grip tighter to the sides of the t.v. The next moment, he flung the t.v. off its stand, sending it crashing to the floor. The screen was now completely smashed, glass scattered the floor underneath it, but Joker kicked the side of it anyway. Oh how he hated it when things didn't go his way…

"Get ready." He snapped, still staring down at the now broken television. "W-what?" Ellie stuttered, not sure what he was saying to her. He shut his eyes for a moment, clenching his fists tightly. Then, bending down next to her, he got in her face, "get. READY!" he roared, making her jump. He then got back up and left the room, leaving Ellie alone.

Ellie had gotten dressed and made her way down to the main room of the warehouse. It was large and consisted of a worn down pool table, a tattered couch, small t.v., and a card table. The room smelt of mold and cigarette smoke. It was where Jokers 'employees' hung out when they were on-duty, but hadn't been assigned anything to do.

Right now, three men were in the room. All wearing clown masks and plain, dark jumpsuits (like a mechanic would wear…or something found in Michael Myers' wardrobe…take your pick). Two were playing pool while the other sat on the couch, flipping through the t.v. that had probably about ten channels.

The two men playing pool looked over at Ellie when she had walked in, but only for a second before returning back to their game. The man watching t.v. didn't even bother looking over. Joker must've told them about her. At least she had superiority over them…after all she had been working here longer than any of them…But then again, it probably didn't matter. She was just another 'co-worker' to them.

A few minutes later, the Joker strolled in, a scowl still on his face, looking around at his men. In one hand he carried an old backpack. "Babel!" He shouted, making the man who was watching t.v. jump up from the couch and look at Joker. His expression was unknown due to his mask. "Yeah Boss?" ... 'Babel?' Oh Joker and his cute nicknames for his henchmen…insert rolling eyes

"I need you to get me a new t.v." He growled, glaring at 'Babel.' "Uh Boss…how am I suppose--" _Bang! _Babel instantly fell lifeless to the floor, a gunshot wound in the middle of his forehead. "Stitches, I need you to get me a t.v." Joker said through gritted teeth, lowering the gun like nothing had happened. Damn he wasn't messing around today. The guy seriously needed some Litho-tabs. (Side note: Litho-tabs are basically Lithium and are given to people who are Bi-Polar or have manic episodes…no I'm not a drug addict and no I'm not a doctor, but WebMD can instantly make you an expert in the medical field. XD )

'Stitches,' one of the men that had been playing pool nodded quickly "Sure thing Boss."

"And tell Griz, when he gets here, to get rid of that incompetence's body." He said, motioning over to the now dead Babel.

Joker then turned to Ellie, throwing the backpack towards her. Even though she hadn't expected him to do this, she caught it, looking down at it, and then back at Joker.

"I need you to get me some new…short-term…recruits. I need five guys. Find them then give them a mask and an envelope. Snuffy will come with you." Joker told her seriously, leaving no room for argument. She looked back at the backpack, guessing that the masks and envelopes were in there. She then looked back at him, a little unsure, "Where…would do we…um…find these recruits?" She said carefully, not wanting him to snap like he had done with Babel.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "That's your problem not mine. Just get it done." He growled, leaving once more. She looked over at the other man by the pool table, guessing that he was Snuffy. He nodded to her, and the two of them walked out of the room in silence.

They went to the garage where four different vans were parked. Snuffy went over to one and climbed into the driver's seat. Ellie did the same, but into the passenger's. Once in, Snuffy took off his mask, letting out what sounded like a relieved sigh. "Damn thing gets hot having to wear it all the time." He said, his voice sounding a little gravelly. He was probably in his mid-20's, darker hair, but bright blue eyes. He wasn't unattractive, but he wasn't oober hot either. Just. Average.

Ellie looked over at him, wondering how a man like him would fall into the hands of someone like the Joker. But then again, he was probably wondering the same thing about her. He started the ignition and pulled out of the garage onto the road. Ellie was half-grateful that this guy actually generally followed the rules of the road…unlike Joker…

"So…what's your real name?" Ellie asked randomly, trying to break the silence. His eyes didn't leave the road, once again thankfully, as he answered, "We were told not to give out our real names to anyone." He spoke in the gravelly tone. Ellie mentally rolled her eyes. '_What is this? Reservoir Dogs?' _

"Oookk. How about, why did Joker decide to call you 'Snuffy?'" She asked, holding back any laughter that might of came out due to how ridiculous the name was. This question seemed to make Snuffy a little uncomfortable, maybe even embarrassed, but Ellie continued to look at him, waiting for an answer.

"Well…" He started, putting on his blinker to make a right turn, "I kinda have a…thing…for…um snuff films…Just something about them I guess…" Ah, so he wasn't as normal as he looked. Ellie shrugged "Whatever floats your boat I guess." She wasn't really surprised. After all, the Joker was WAY crazier than this guy could ever be. So I guess she was used to people with…weird hobbies…

"So, um, do you know of any place we can find some low-lives for the Boss?" He said, trying to change the subject. Ellie thought for a second. "I think I know of one…"

**Thanks so much for reading!! Please review!! I really appreciate the feedback! Thanks! :D**


	14. Chapter 13

Snuffy drove down the streets of Gotham, as Ellie gave him directions where to go. "Turn left here…"

Other than that, neither of them spoke, causing an awkward silence inside the van. Because silence can sometimes be more annoying than actual sound, Ellie reached over towards the radio. But at the same time, Snuffy, apparently with the same idea, had also reached towards the radio, making their hands bump into one another.

"Sorry" he mumbled, pulling his hand away and placing it back onto the steering wheel.

Flipping on the radio, Ellie didn't even bother finding a good station, leaving it on whatever the previous driver had been listening to. Right now it was commercials. Anything to break the silence was fine with her.

"Pull up beside here." She said a few minutes later, pointing to an area outside of a bar. The same bar that she had first met the Joker. The place where the devil had convinced her to sign her soul away. How she wished she could go change the past. But anyways, she figured that since the Joker had recruited her here, then it would be a good place to recruit others.

Snuffy had parked the van, and after he turned off the ignition, he placed his clown mask back on. Ellie grabbed the backpack that the Joker had given to her, and the two walked into the bar.

The scene inside was so familiar, that it was like Déjà Vu to Ellie. The smell of smoke and whiskey was almost suffocating. Chatter and drunken hollering was the only sounds that could be heard besides the sounds of glasses clanking against the tables as men drank, slammed the glass down, drank, slammed the glass down, repeat process…

Ellie scanned the room, looking for any potential workers that would be willing to throw their lives away for the Joker…of course that little part was in the fine print of the verbal contract…

Looking over towards the back of the bar, there sat a group of men, all with either a glass or cigarette in their hands, laughing loudly at apparently a joke that one of the men had just told.

Once their laughter died down, another man started talking, but the distance between him and Ellie hindered her ability to hear exactly what he was saying. Normally, she wouldn't have been interested, but right now she was curious about why that man was in a bar like this. He was dressed in an Armani suit which was fitting because he was also Italian. He had the salt and pepper hair, and sat with a sense of superiority over the other men at the table.

Ellie recognized this man. He was basically the head of the mob now after the fall of Ra's Al Ghul: Salvatore Maroni.

One look at the man would suggest that he had a taste for delicacy, and would most likely be seen in the top notch clubs with all the money that he probably had. It was hard to believe he was in a slummy dump of a bar like this…even if he was a criminal. It was strange…almost 

suspicious, but Ellie shrugged it off, '_probably looking for recruits too…' _Ellie thought as her and Snuffy walked over to a vacant table.

Sitting down, Ellie glanced once more at Maroni, who, also flashed his eyes over to her for a slight second.

"So what'd ya think?" A voice said, snapping Ellie's attention away from Maroni. "What?" She asked Snuffy who still wore his clown mask…probably one of Joker's orders.

"What'd ya think?" He repeated, looking around, "See anyone that looks to have potential?"

"Oh, yeah. Umm…" She also looked around, keeping her gaze away from Maroni's table.

Another group of men sat at the opposite end of the room. They looked to be like they were playing Poker, and all five of them had a rugged, dirty complexion about them, in contrast to Maroni and his men.

"How about a couple of those guys?" Snuffy shrugged, and Ellie handed him the backpack, "You get one of those guys, and I'll buy you a drink." She said, half-smiling. He took the backpack from her, accepting the challenge. Getting up, he walked towards their table. Ellie also got up, but went over towards the bar, sitting as close as she could to Maroni's table without arousing suspicion towards herself. In truth, she knew Snuffy could easily recruit one of those hygiene lacking men, but she had just wanted an excuse to get closer and hopefully in earshot of Maroni and his men to see what he was up too.

She sat on her barstool, back facing Maroni's table which was probably about ten feet away. "What can I get ya missy?" The bartender asked. Looking up at him, she ignored his question and asked one of her own, "Does Benny still work here?" She had asked, out of complete curiosity.

"Benny? Ah yeah he does. Only on weekends though. I think he's got another job during the week." Ellie nodded hoping that whatever other job he had was paying him good. "So is there a drink I could get you?" The bartender repeated. She was about to answer, but stopped when she heard someone whistle behind her. Not like a perverted wolf whistle, but like a whistle to get someone's attention.

not sure if it was directed towards her or not, Ellie turned around, seeing Maroni looking at her. He slightly motioned with his head for her to come over. She was hesitate at first, glancing over at Snuffy. He was still at the other end of the room, chatting with another group of men.

Seeing that Snuffy was too busy, and not paying any attention, she got off her barstool and cautiously walked over to Maroni's table. Maroni snapped a finger, signaling one of his men to get out of their seat, holding it open for Ellie.

"Please, sit." Maroni said, a roguish grin plastered on his face. Ellie took another look over to make sure Snuffy was still preoccupied. Satisfied that he was, Ellie sat in the now-vacant seat which happened to be right next to Maroni. She eyed him suspiciously, wondering what he wanted.

"Sal Maroni" he said, smiling wide as he held out a hand to her. She reluctantly shook it; all of the eyes at the table were on her. Maroni also stared at her, as if waiting for something, "And your name is?..." The idea to give him a fake name popped into her head for a moment, but she pushed it aside, thinking there really wasn't any harm in telling him the truth; for now at least.

"Ellie Turner…is there something I can help you with?" She replied, getting annoyed that he wasn't getting straight to his point.

At this comment, Maroni and the others chuckled. "You work for that clown freak don't you?" Once again, she eyed him suspiciously. But I guess it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who she worked for. After all, she had come in with a man wearing a clown mask, obviously one of Joker's henchmen; and also there was a large carving of 'Joker' running down her arm. "What's it to you?" she asked, wanting to know what he wanted with her. This made him chuckle again, really getting on Ellie's nerves.

Maroni then reached into his inside suit pocket, making Ellie tense up. She didn't have anything to defend herself with if he decided to pull a gun on her. Instead, he pulled out a sealed envelope and slid it on the table towards her. She didn't take it though, just looked at it, and then back at him, a little puzzled.

"If you ever decide that you've had enough of that freak, why don't you give me a call. I know how to treat a lady, unlike _him_." He said, giving her a quick wink and then eyeing the 'Joker' scar.

She simply took the envelope without another word, and got up from the table. As she walked away, she heard his voice call once more, "I'll be expecting your call."

Instead of going back to the bar, Ellie went into the bathroom. She wondered what his intentions really were. It was strange that a mob boss like him would want one of Joker's workers.

Once in the bathroom, Ellie opened the envelope, revealing a small stack of 100 dollar bills as well as a note with a phone number scribbled on it. Before she had opened the envelope, Ellie figured that Maroni had wanted her strictly for 'special services,' but no one would pay _this _much for a prostitute. Not even a guy like him. it was now clear that he in fact wanted to actually hire her as part of his gang.

She quickly pocketed the money as well as the note, and threw the now empty envelope into the garbage, and walked back out.

Once out of the bathroom, she saw that Snuffy was at the bar, a glass in his hand, with his clown mask raised up just enough for him to drink out of his glass.

She went over and sat on the barstool next to him. "Any luck with those guys?" she asked. He turned towards her "Hey, where'd you go? One minute you were here, and the next you weren't."

"Oh, bathroom." She said, smiling. Good. He hadn't seen her with Maroni. If Joker found out, there would sure be hell to pay; especially since she was, what'd he call it? Oh yeah, 'on probation.'

"Well I got two guys from that table, three from that one, and the last guy over there." He said pointing to the designated areas. "So…" he said, raising his drink to her. She laughed a little while rolling her eyes; she placed a ten down on the bar which the bartender took. Luckily she did have smaller bills than just what Maroni had given her; she didn't want Snuffy asking about it.

Once he finished his drink, they went back to the van and started to drive back to the hideout; Ellie never noticing Maroni staring at her as she left, an evil grin on his face.

"Well the Boss should be happy." Snuffy said, pulling off his mask while driving. "Mmm hmm." Was all Ellie said, not really paying attention to him. She was too preoccupied with Maroni's proposition. It was tempting, oh yes, but she knew she'd pay heavily for it if word got back to the Joker. Then again, once you were a part of the mob, they offered great protection from any…threats. Plus, the mob never cut or shot you unless they had a really good reason. Unlike Joker who needed no reason to cause bodily harm. And she was sure that Sal Maroni didn't have the psychotic Bi-Polar issues that plagued the Joker.

Everything about the mob sounded way more appealing than working for the Joker. But the consequences of leaving the Joker (again), seemed to outweigh the positive aspects of working for Maroni. But she'd keep the idea open as a possibility. At least she had options if Joker's antics proved to be too much to handle…

**Thanks everyone for reading! I would love it if I got some more reviews…hint hint, nudge nudge XD**

**Anywho, until next time! **


	15. Chapter 14

Ellie and Snuffy made it back to the hideout. "Hey, do you mind telling the Boss that the job is done? You know, in case he's still in a bad mood, it'd be better of you talked to him." Snuffy said as they made their way inside the warehouse. Ellie rolled her eyes, "Jeez…thanks." She replied, not looking forward to see Joker still in a bad mood. But then again, his mood swings were constant, making his current mood unpredictable…which was probably even worse.

They went into the lounge area, this time only Stitches was there, watching t.v., with a cigarette in his hand. There was no trace of Babel's body anywhere. Stitches' mask was lifted up, resting on his head. The only reason Ellie knew that the man was 'Stitches' was because she had recognized the design on the mask from earlier. But now she could see that this man was in his early thirties, chocolate-colored hair, and a pockmarked face.

"Where's the Boss at?" Snuffy asked him. "Toy Room." Stitches replied with a small chuckle as he took a drag from his cigarette. Snuffy looked back at Ellie, "Have fun…" He said with a grin as Ellie let out a small groan.

The Toy Room…at first thought, you might think of a small child's play area. A warm, welcoming room with every toy imaginable inside that would make any kid go nuts. Well, this Toy Room was a little more…sinister. You know the torture rooms in those Hostel movies? Well it's sorta like that. Joker's Toy Room was filled with gadgets that he regarded as 'toys.' From guns and knives all the way to power tools and other items you could only buy at Home Depot.

She went in the direction of Joker's 'special room'; the good news was that Joker was probably in a happy mood. If he was in the Toy Room, it means he was either torturing someone, or had just killed someone. She was hoping it was the latter of the two. If the victim was already dead, then she wouldn't have to hear he/she's horrid screams. She hated hearing it, unlike Joker who fed off of people's screams of anguish

As she got closer to the room, she saw the door cracked open just enough to be able to peek her head through. She didn't hear anything though… _'good.' _

Looking through the small opening of the door, she saw a man, whom she didn't recognize, tied to a chair in the center of the room. He was covered in blood from various cuts in his skin, but mostly from a large slash across his throat. The Joker was leaning against the grimy countertop, eyeing the dead man before him. Joker's head was cocked to the side, the bloody knife twirled in his hand, as he watched with a curious expression.

Ellie then lightly knocked and waited for a response. Joker licked his lips a few times, and then looked towards the door, a grin spreading across his face when he saw Ellie.

"Oh El! Come in, come in!" He said cheerfully…almost too cheerfully after just having killed someone… He also had a look on his face like he was really eager for something.

She pushed the door open a little, and started to walk in. She only got a few steps inside before being drenched with a luke-warm liquid. You know those stupid 'bucket filled with water on top of the door' tricks? That's basically what had happened…but it hadn't been water that fell on her; it had been more of a crimson substance.

Her face must have looked horrified because Joker broke out into a fit of laughter as she stood there, the dead guy's blood dripping off of her, creating a puddle of blood at her feet.

"Woo! Now that's what I call a blood bath!" The Joker howled as he doubled over, laughing at his own stupid joke.

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY!?" She yelled feeling absolutely disgusted. She then realized she had used the wrong choice of words because Joker instantly stopped laughing, his brow now furrowed, "I. Am. Not. Crazy." He said darkly as he advanced towards her. He grabbed her arm, pushing her against the wall as he stared coldly at her. "_You_ are crazy." He said, pointing at Elle. "_He _was crazy" he continued, pointing at the lifeless man in the chair. "But I…" He pointed at himself, "_I _am _not_ crazy…"

It was kinda ironic because 'crazy' seemed like the perfect word to describe the Joker, but for some reason he hated being called it. '_Probably just in denial or something…' _

She quickly nodded, agreeing with him, although she truthfully thought the exact opposite. This gesture put a wide smile back on Joker's face, revealing his grotesquely yellow teeth. He began stroking her hair, which had been matted down and slightly tinted red from the blood that had fallen.

"You're _so _much prettier when you're like this." He whispered in an eerily calm voice. Joker then slightly bent down to her eye-level, getting inches from her face. Grabbing the back of her neck, Joker pushed her head forward a bit, and then licked some of the blood off of her cheek, making Ellie cringe in disgust.

He stood back to his full height, smacking his lips together as if savoring the taste, "too bad it's not your blood." Ellie simply glared up at him, trying not to think about the fact that she was covered in someone else's blood. The thought made her want to gag.

"Awww…why the long face?" He asked mockingly, pouting out his bottom lip as he lightly patted the side of her face. "We've got your recruits." She said through clenched teeth, trying to keep her anger under control as she scowled at him.

"Oh goody!" He replied cheerfully, clapping both hands together in childish glee. Luckily, Ellie managed to refrain from rolling her eyes at him.

"Now!" Joker suddenly said, now back to a serious tone. "I need you to get rid of him." He continued, motioning his head towards his latest victim. She nodded once more, wanting to get away from him as fast as she could. "Such a good girl!" He shrieked happily.

Thinking that was her cue to leave, Ellie slipped away from him, heading towards the door. She stopped instantly, however, letting out a yelp of pain as a knife came in contact with her arm.

"I wasn't finished talking…" Joker growled as he dragged his knife back towards him, pulling Ellie with it. She whimpered, as tears began threatening to fall from her eyes.

He quickly pulled the knife out, making her gasp. She watched as his eyes shot upwards, his tongue licking his lips, looking like he was concentrating hard on trying to remember something.

"Gaaah." He said, letting out an annoyed breath of air. "You made me forget what I was going to say!" He wiped his knife on Ellie's shirt, probably with the intentions of cleaning it off, but the attempt wasn't very good since her shirt was already saturated in the stranger's blood.

"Ah well, I'm sure I'll think of it sooner or later." He said, and then started laughing once more upon seeing Ellie's face contorted in pain. He then cupped both of his hands around her face, "You're just _too_ much _fun_!" He told her, giggling.

Patting her on the head, Joker gave her one last grin before leaving.

Once Ellie was sure that he was completely gone, she angrily kicked the wall, mumbling a few 'choice' words under her breath. She was pissed. Her whole body was dripping someone else's blood, and she had (another) knife wound that was completely unnecessary. That's when she remembered Maroni's proposition. It was starting to become _very _temping…

**Alrighty, hope you enjoyed! Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews! Keep 'em coming! :D**

**Also open to any suggestions or ideas that you might have. Always love to hear your opinions. ;) Thanks!**


	16. Chapter 15

Ellie stood in the shower, scrubbing herself to get rid of the man's blood that encased her body. She was sick of Joker's stupid games and wanted more than anything to just leave, but she was also fully aware of the consequences if she did leave again. She had a feeling that Joker couldn't be so 'kind' this time.

Turning off the shower after fully washing her body, Ellie watched the red-stained water slide down the drain. It reminded her of that 'Psycho' movie.

'_Psycho_'…the perfect word to describe him. He wasn't crazy…no…he was a complete psycho…

Drying off and getting dressed, Ellie then bandaged her newest knife wound. She grabbed her soaked clothes and headed back to her (still disastrous) room. Once inside, she shut the door behind her, and reached into her bloody pants pocket, and took out the money and note that Maroni had given her. Luckily, neither had really been affected from the blood.

Staring at the piece of paper, Ellie read the phone number over and over silently to herself. She was debating with herself on what to do. The mob would actually give her a real job, and they didn't play the mind games that Joker did. Plus, they weren't as near as violent as he was (of course unless you give them a reason to be). They were organized, planned everything out carefully before taking action, and were, for the most part, in their right minds; the exact opposite of Joker.

Sighing, Ellie stuffed the paper into her clean jeans pocket, as well as a couple of the hundreds. The rest of money was placed under a loose floorboard that she had discovered when she first moved into the room.

Gathering up her blood-soaked clothes once more, Ellie walked back into the 'Toy Room' where the dead man awaited her. She undid the ropes that bound him to the chair, and he slid down to the floor, landing with a small '_thud_.' Ellie wrinkled up her nose as blood dripped from the chair onto the floor. She really didn't want anything else to do with this man's blood.

Grabbing the man's wrists, she used all her strength to drag him out of the room and down the hall; a trail of blood followed them. She stopped to take a break halfway through, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

After a quick break, she resumed dragging the man down the hall. She finally reached the back doors, and after pushing them open, she walked down the few steps that there were, pulling the man along with her. At each step, she heard the man's head hit the concrete, making a sickening sound; luckily he was already dead.

She continued over to the garage, and opened the back of one of the vans. Jumping in first, she then bent down and hoisted the man in as well. She was panting by now since the guy was almost twice her size, and was nothing but dead weight (literally).

Going back into the warehouse, Ellie went back to the 'Toy Room,' grabbing her bloody clothes as well as the van's keys, and headed back outside.

Tossing her clothes into the back with the lifeless man, Ellie then started up the van.

She drove to a nearby pier that extended out towards the Gotham City River. It appeared deserted, mainly because everyone knew that it was usually used as a 'dumping ground' for the local mobs and other gangs when they needed to get rid of 'evidence.'

Ellie managed to get the man out of the van and over to the edge of the pier where she then rolled him off the ledge and into the murky water below. Before leaving, she also tossed her bloody clothes into the water as well.

Driving back, she stopped at a gas station when she noticed a payphone. She couldn't help herself. The deal was too tempting. Without thinking about any of the consequences, she pulled out the piece of paper from her pocket, and dialed the number, waiting for a response.

Finally, a gruffly sounding man answered. "What?"

At first she couldn't speak. It was hard to believe that she had even considered the idea, let alone go and call him. "…My name is Ellie…Ellie Turner. I was calling about a-"

She was cut off as the man's voice replied, "Hang on."

A few seconds later, another voice spoke, this time she recognized it as Sal Maroni's. "Ah, Ellie. Didn't expect to hear from you so soon." He said, letting out a small chuckle. "Um yeah, I thought about it, and decided that I'd like to take you up on your offer."

Although she couldn't see him, she was almost positive that he was grinning, judging by the tone of his voice, "I'm happy to hear that. How about we meet, say, tomorrow? At Antonio's. And we can discuss things further. Noon sound good?"

Without really thinking about it, Ellie agreed. "Good. I look forward to seeing you." Maroni said before hanging up.

Ellie stood there, a little surprised at how fast things had happened. She was supposed to meet the mob boss, Sal Maroni at Antonio's, one of the best Italian restaurants in town, at noon tomorrow? It never occurred to her how she was going to manage to slip past the Joker without arousing suspicion. It wasn't like he was just going to leave, no matter what excuse she made up. The only reason that she was out of the warehouse now was because she was doing work for him.

She decided to worry about that little detail when the time came. Right now she had to get back to the warehouse before Joker started to get suspicious. He knew exactly how long it took to dump off a body, so taking even a little detour was risky for Ellie.

Getting back to the warehouse, Ellie went inside the lounge area. A large table had been placed inside, where several men in clown masks sat around. Joker was at the head of the table, talking very animatedly. He stopped, however, when she had stepped into the room. He stared at her with a silent scowl as she stood there, waiting to see if he'd address her. A few moments passed and Ellie got the hint that she was interrupting something, and so she walked towards the doors that lead to the hallway. Joker's eyes never left her until she was completely out of sight, and the door was closed.

Sighing, she went back to his room, deciding to get some sleep. She laughed a little when she saw the brand new t.v. that sat in place of the old one. '_Looks like Stitches did his job_…'

...

The next day, it was around 11:00 am when Ellie decided that it was probably time to come up with some sort of non-obvious escape plan.

She made her way into the entrance of the warehouse, seeing the Joker, dressed in his normal attire, as he was busy loading a gun. All the clown henchmen from the night before were also there. All had some kind of weapon in their hands.

Seeing Ellie out of the corner of his eye, he looked towards her, a grin apparent on his face. "Come on over here El." He said like a playful child, letting out a small giggle. Ellie did so, a little hesitate, knowing that his mood would probably change in an instant.

Handing the gun to a nearby henchmen, Joker grabbed another man's gun, looking it over very intently as he licked his lips. "We are going _out_ for a little while. We have a little _withdrawal_ to make at a bank."

She watched him cautiously as he inspected the gun. "Oh, should I get ready then?..." she asked slowly, not wanting to say anything to make him snap. Especially since there was a gun in his hand.

Instead, the Joker broke out into a laughing fit. "Oh you're just too cute!" He squealed in between giggles. Ellie forced a nervous smile onto her lips, not sure what he was laughing at.

In a split second, Joker stopped laughing and his expression got very serious, almost looking angered. "Do you think I'd honestly let you come with me on a bank heist? After what happened _last time_??" He growled, his sunken eyes were narrowed at her.

The smile had instantly fallen off of Ellie's face at his sudden change of mood. She opened her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it, not nothing what to say.

"Well?..." He whispered darkly. "DO YOU?!" His sudden outburst made Ellie jump as she quickly replied, "N-no…"

Her answer made Joker smile once more. "Of course not. So…" he said, grabbing her arm, and pulling her close. He handed the gun to another henchmen, and then pulled a knife from his jacket. He waved it threateningly in front of her face a few times, "You need to be a good girl and stay here until I get back. Got it?"

She nodded, never taking her eyes off of the knife. "Good" He replied before letting go of his grip. "Come on boys! Time to have a little fun!"

The men hurried out of the warehouse, leaving Joker the last one to get out of the door. He gave her one last evil smile before also leaving.

Ellie couldn't believe it. He was going to be gone for awhile. It was the perfect opportunity to go and meet Maroni. She tried to ignore the image of Joker's knife as she went to get ready. As long as she came back before the Joker did, she wouldn't have anything to worry about…

...

She drove to Antonio's Restaurant, and after parking the van she walked up to the entrance door. She took in a deep breath as she stood outside the door.

This is it. There's no going back now. She wouldn't work for the Joker any longer. Not have to deal with his crap. Of course she was a little apprehensive. What if he did find out? But it didn't matter because part of the 'benefits' of working for the mob was getting protection, so even if Joker did somehow find out who she worked for, they'd be able to protect her…at least that was what she hoped.

**Thanks for reading! Please let me know your thoughts on the chapter!**

**Review please...you know you want to ;)**


	17. Chapter 16

Walking into Antonio's Restaurant, Ellie scanned the room, not seeing Maroni anywhere. Just then, a waiter approached her, "May I help you miss?" His voice dripped with a thick accent that was almost hard to understand.

She eyed him for a moment, unsure on whether or not it as a good idea to tell someone that she was waiting for a notorious mob boss. Eh, what the heck, "Um. Yeah. Do you know if uh, a Mr. Maroni has stopped by? She waited for the man to look at her suspiciously, but instead he smiled. "Right this way."

He lead her towards the back of the restaurant, and then through a door which lead to another good-sized room. This room looked like a VIP lounge, that had a plasma t.v., a bar, and a large dining table with several chairs around it.

The head of the table sat none other than Sal Maroni. He had been talking quietly to a man that sat on the left of him, but then quickly shushed and looked up when he had heard the door open. A large, smirk-like grin appeared on Maroni's face when he saw her.

He beckoned her over, motioning to an empty seat on his right. There were about eight other men that occupied the rest of the seats; all were turned towards her, eyeing her with smug expressions. Having all eyes on her made Ellie feel a little uncomfortable as she quickly moved to the open seat, trying not to make eye contact with any of the men.

Once seated in her designated chair, Maroni turned towards her, leaning back in his seat as he watched her. His smirk-like grin never leaving his face. Not sure what to do, Ellie half-smiled at him expectedly, waiting for him to have the first word. Finally, he spoke, "So I'm glad to hear that you've decided to come, and uh, _join us_." Apparently this was funny because most of the other men chuckled at Maroni's words, leaving Ellie confused.

"Umm…yeah. Thanks again for the offer…" She replied, unsure of what had been so funny. These guys weren't like Joker. They didn't laugh at any random comment like he did. No, there was something she was missing. Maroni gave her a nod, his eyes never leaving hers. She tried to read them; there was something in his eyes, an emotion, but she couldn't understand what it was. All she knew was that it made her feel uneasy.

"Now that you work for me, I will supply your housing and pay, as long as you complete the jobs I give you."

She nodded in response, and then added, "What about…you know. _Him_?" Maroni looked at her for a moment, and then seemed to understand what she was saying, "I wouldn't worry about that, _freak_." He seemed to spit out the last word. "He's just some petty bank robber in makeup. No worries about him." Ellie was, of course, very hesitant with what Maroni was saying. He didn't know the Joker like she did. He didn't know what the Joker was capable of. But, not wanting to argue, Ellie simply nodded again.

An awkward silence (well, awkward for Ellie), filled the air as all the men, including Maroni, continued to just stare at her.

"So…" Ellie began, trying to break the silence. "Do you have any possessions?" Maroni said suddenly, throwing Ellie off guard, "Wha?"

"Possessions. Things you need to collect together before you come join us." "Oh! Possessions. Yeah…I do." She mentally slapped herself. Great, now he probably thought she was slow or something.

"Why don't you go get your things, and then come back here when you're ready." He said slowly, leaning forward a bit. She quickly nodded, already feeling stupid, she got up from her seat and headed towards the door. "You would think that she would have brought them with her…" Ellie heard one of the men say, making the others chuckle. She was about to leave, but Maroni's voice stopped her, "Oh and, Ellie?...Make it quick." He said impatiently before she left.

Ellie drove back to Joker's hideout, praying that she would make it back there before he did.

Pulling into the garage, Ellie breathed a sigh of relief when seeing the still empty parking spot from the van that Joker took.

Once parked, Ellie rushed inside and up to her room. After tripping over some of the items that still scattered the floor, she managed to find an old duffle bag she had.

She began grabbing clothes off the floor and stuffed them quickly into the bag. She didn't want to keep Maroni waiting, but most importantly, wanted to be long gone before Joker returned.

Looking around the room, Ellie filled the bag with other items until it was completely full. Hurriedly, she bent down, zipped the bag closed, and lifted the strap onto her shoulder.

Proud about the fact that it hadn't took her longer than five minutes to gather her things, Ellie turned to head towards the door.

As soon as she turned around, however, what she saw made her jump a good five feet, dropping the bag to the floor with a soft _thud._

"Hey sweetcheeks. What cha doin'?" His tone sounded very innocent, but his eyes told a different story as they flashed maliciously.

Joker took a step towards Ellie in which she quickly took a step back. When she did so, she caught the side of the duffle bag with her foot, sending her toppling to the floor. Joker simply laughed his maniacal laugh, taking another step towards her, "Oh El, you're just too _cute_." The last word spat from his mouth like venom as he reached down, grabbing a handful of her hair, allowing a small squeak to emit from Ellie's lips. He brought her back to her feet by the hair, and then pushed her to the wall, pinning her there by the shoulders.

Breathing heavy, Ellie watched him, the fear was apparent on her face even as she tried to remain calm. Joker's eyes were now closed as he licked his painted lips, "What did I tell you?" He spoke in a calm whisper, barely audible.

Ellie racked her brain, trying to remember exactly what he had said before he had left, but the tightening grip on her shoulders, and the feeling of his hot breath on her skin allowed the fear to overtake her thoughts.

When Ellie didn't answer after a few moments, Joker opened his eyes, his stare burning into hers. She squirmed under his gaze, but instantly stopped movie as the grip on her shoulders tightened even more. "What did I tell you??" He repeated, his calm voice starting to grow angry.

"Not to leave. And I didn't!" Ellie quickly said before his patience faded anymore. A low growl erupted from Joker's throat, but turned into a psychotic laugh. He slapped her shoulder a few times as he continued his laughing fit. Then, out of nowhere, the laughter instantly stopped and Joker's face became very serious; almost as if he hadn't been laughing moment ago.

"Then would you please tell me why…" His voice was dangerous now "Your bag is packed like you seem to be going somewhere. You weren't planning on going somewhere were you El? 

Because you know how _crazy _that would make me if you left. And I know how _sad _you would be too. You wouldn't know what to do without me. It would just _kill _you wouldn't it?"

"I-I wasn't going anywhere." She managed to stutter out. Then she quickly added before he could go into another laughing attack. "I was just cleaning things up. Getting rid of anything I didn't need anymore." She hoped she sounded convincing. She watched Joker as he tilted his head to the side, looking at her with a pouty face; it looked like he didn't believe her at all, but still said "Cleaning huh? Well it looks like you'll be here awhile, so I might just send Scraps up to _help _you." Scraps…most likely another goon.

Before she could protest, Joker grabbed her ear and pulled it close to his lips. "But I really do hope that you aren't lying." He whispered darkly into her ear. "Because I _hate liars_." His tone made her skin crawl, but luckily Joker left the room without another word. Ellie heard the door lock behind him, as she sank to the floor, trying to catch her breath.

**Sorry it took so long to write...I blame school. lol**

**But hope you enjoyed, and I would love you forever if you reviewed...heehee**

**Ok, quick story I felt I should share with you guys: So, I go to the fair that comes to our city every year, and I see this guy who totally looks like Jonathan Crane...it kinda weirded me out..lol. Thought I'd share a little storytime with you all. Haahaa, thanks and have a fabulous day! :D**


	18. Chapter 17

A few minutes later, Ellie heard the door unlock and in stepped a man (wearing a clown mask, of course); who Ellie guessed to be the man nicknamed 'Scraps.' He shut the door behind him, and leaned against the wall, staring at Ellie who was still sitting on the floor.

She looked at him, a scowl on her face as, watching the man just stand there with his arms crossed. The mask hid his expression, but his posture suggested that he wasn't too happy to be there.

After another moment, Ellie got up, decided to ignore the man for now, as she began to gather up other items on the floor that she hadn't previously stuffed into her duffle bag. Ellie tidied up the room for only a few minutes before stopping and looking at the still silent, statue-like man. "Aren't you supposed to be helping?" She asked, slightly annoyed that he hadn't even said a word to her.

She heard the man snicker lightly under his mask before saying, "Nope, I'm supposed to be babysitting." Ellie raised a brow. "Oh really? Is that so?" It irritated her even more to think that the Joker didn't trust her in her own room; especially when he had locked the door. '_Well why should he trust you? You're not exactly the most trustworthy person. You should be happy that he hasn't decided to kill you yet_' Ellie pushed those thoughts aside, realizing that she needed a way to get back to Maroni, and fast, without attracting unwanted attention.

Not really having any idea of what to do, Ellie decided to just go for it, and see what Scraps would do. She walked towards Scraps, with the intention of walking past him and out the door. Instead, he shot his arm out, stopping Ellie as soon as she made it to the doorway.

"Where are you going?" He said roughly. '_Damn it_.' "I'm going to the bathroom if you don't mind." Ellie said, narrowing her eyes at the man. To her surprise, he opened the door for her. After a hesitant second, Ellie walked right out. But of course, there was always a catch. As she began walking down the hallway, Scraps followed.

Grumbling silently to herself, Ellie turned a sharp left at the end of the hallway, and then stopped at a door. She turned to Scraps, who was stuck to her like a shadow, and said sarcastically, "You gonna follow me in and help me wipe too?" She could hear him smirk, but decided to just roll her eyes and go into the bathroom.

After shutting the door, Ellie stood in the middle of the dumpy-looking bathroom, thinking of a new plan. She looked over at the medicine cabinet/mirror that hung over the grimy sink. She could barely see her reflection due to the fact that the mirror seriously needed a Windex job, but figuring that she had a few minutes to spare, she opened the medicine cabinet.

Inside, the little shelves were just as dirty as everything else in the bathroom, but Ellie paid no attention. Old, probably stolen, prescription bottles littered the inside of the cabinet, but what stood out the most was a flick knife. It lay there, the blade was already open, which appeared to be covered with rust, but upon closer inspection, it could be seen as dried blood.

Ellie grabbed the knife, realizing that this would be the only way that she would even have a slight chance of leaving. She flushed the toilet, making it appear that she had went, and then turned on the sink as if she was washing her hands. Instead, she washed off as much of the blood that she could on the knife, and then wiping the excess water on her pants. Shutting the knife, she placed it in her pocket and walked out of the bathroom to find Scraps still waiting.

"Better?" He sneered as she began walking back to her room. "Wouldn't you like to know" She snapped back at him as they both made it back to the room. Once inside, Scraps shut the door once again, and assumed his position back against the wall.

Ellie thought about just running at the man and attacking him with the knife, but then realized that it would probably cause some sort of commotion, and Joker would be back up here in an instant. So, she sighed to herself, and then turned and looked at Scraps.

Sauntering over to him, Ellie forced a sweet smile on her face. Upon seeing this, Scraps straightened himself up a bit, clearing his throat. Ellie placed a hand lightly on his upper chest, and continued to smile up at him. "So, what is your real name big guy?" she asked innocently, lifting his mask up with her other hand. She suppressed a laugh when she saw his taken aback expression.

The man cleared his throat once more, seeming to snap out of something as he quickly said "You uh, got work to do." He said with a little trouble, as he reluctantly turned his gaze from her. Wanting to keep his attention, Ellie quickly grabbed his face in her hands and made him look at her. "The cleaning can wait" She said as seductively as she could without making herself puke at the thought.

She leaned closer to him, as he leaned down towards her. Before she knew it, he had wrapped an arm around her waist, as got her against the wall and started kissing her. She went along with it as she slowly reached one hand into her pocket and pulled out the knife.

In the next moment, Ellie had opened the knife. She took advantage of the fact that his neck was so exposed, and then slashed a huge gash across it. He instantly stumbled back, clutching his throat as blood spilled out. He was gasping for air as more and more blood flowed out, before he finally fell to the ground.

Ellie hurried and grabbed her duffle bag that still lay on the floor, placing the knife back in her pocket, not caring whether or not it still had a fresh coat of blood on it.

Quickly heading back out the bedroom door, Ellie checked to make sure the hallway was deserted before shutting the door, leaving 'Scraps' to bleed to death. She made her way back down the hallway, carefully checking around every corner before she proceeded. Surprised that she made it out the back door without any trouble, Ellie climbed into the van and started it up.

She drove as fast as she could back to the restaurant, and once she was close by, Ellie parked the van a few blocks away and decided to walk the rest of the way in order to not make it obvious as to where she was headed.

Once at the restaurant, Ellie made her way to the back room, seeing that most of the men from before were there no more. Only Maroni and two others still sat there, appearing to be gambling. Maroni tossed his cards onto the table as he saw Ellie come in, making the other two men groan. Apparently he had won the hand.

"I started to think you weren't coming back" Maroni said, clearly irritated, but then focused his attention on her hand. Looking down, Ellie saw that her hand was covered in Scraps' blood, so she quickly wiped it on her pants and looked back at Maroni "There were some…complications. But everything is taken care of now."

His eyes were slightly narrowed as he took in what she had just said. Without speaking, Maroni got up from the table and headed towards her. The other two men mimicked his moves. Instead of stopping in front of Ellie, however, Maroni walked past her and out the door. After the two men also left, Ellie realized it was her cue to follow.

**Meanwhile, back at Joker's Hideout:**

"oooooohhh El!" Joker's voice rang out childishly through the halls of the hideout as he made his way towards her room. He had a knife in hand; eager to learn where exactly Ellie thought she 

was going after finding her with a packed duffle bag. He had had other _business _to take care of before, so left Scraps to keep an eye on her until he could deal with her himself.

Joker had a wide grin on his face as he pushed the door open with unnecessary force, only to find something he was not expecting to see. Scraps now lay dead on the floor, a puddle of blood around him that clearly had come from the knife gash in his throat.

Joker's smile twisted into a angry glare as he stared at the pathetic body of his former employee.

He didn't think she would actually leave. He thought she was too terrified of him to leave. But apparently not…he definitely would work on that. If she wanted to play, then so would he. But he wouldn't be so nice this time. Oh no. This time she would get what she deserved.

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! :D**

**Reviews? I know you waaaannntt tooo... heehee**


	19. Chapter 18

A couple of weeks had passed sine Ellie had started working for Maroni. The only thing was, she hadn't really done _anything_. He had given her her own room inside his gigantic house, and said that he would let her know when he had a job for her to do. Other than that, she was free to do whatever. She basically hung around the house, not wanting to go out very much since Joker was probably looking for her. It was a nice change though. Being in a nice house (instead of a dumpy warehouse), with basically having full reign of the house since Maroni was hardly ever there, and his wife was always gone doing god knows what. In about two and a half weeks, Ellie only had seen Maroni a total of four times, and each time, he was always on his phone, talking in a rushed tone. Then he would lock himself up in his office and never speak a word to her. In truth, Ellie was becoming bored.

Even the Joker seemed to be laying low for the most part, much to Ellie's relief. She made sure to watch the news daily to see if there was any sign of what he was doing. As far as Ellie had seen, Joker had only robbed two banks, but other than that, didn't cause any commotion. Ellie thought for sure that he would have gone on some kind of rampage through Gotham City, but apparently he hadn't. Maybe he realized that he was better off without her? Ellie could only hope, but for some reason, she thought Joker was simply biding his time; waiting for the right moment

Today, Ellie found herself in her new room, as usual, flipping through the channels on the t.v. Frustrated because she felt that she seemed to be doing the same routine every day, she simply just turned the t.v. off, and lay on the bed.

She lay there, resting her eyes, until she heard the front door open and then close. Thinking it was probably Maroni, Ellie figured now would be a good time to ask him if there was anything he wanted her to do. After all, she did work for him, and she was getting antsy to go do something, anything, that would give her an excuse to break her new daily routine.

Making her way downstairs, Ellie didn't see anyone around. She figured Maroni went into his office already, so she made her way through the large living room, down the hallway, stopping in front of his office door. She was about to knock, but stopped when she heard Maroni's voice on the other side of the door. He was obviously on the phone.

"Yeah I do. But I want my money first." There was silence for a few moments, Maroni probably listening to whatever the person on the other end of the phone had to say. Finally, Maroni spoke, his voice growing irritated, "…No, how about you write me a check and I'll keep my end of the deal……..Look, you've got until next week's meeting to make up your mind. She's starting to take up space, so you better decide before I get rid of her………….Don't fuck with me! You wanted her, so I got her…I'll see you in a few days." Ellie guessed he had hung up the phone because there was complete silence.

What Maroni had said on the phone made Ellie feel a little apprehensive. Who exactly was the 'she' that he had been talking about? Surely he wasn't talking about her…or was he? Shrugging it off for now, Ellie waited another few minutes before finally knocking. "Come in." Maroni's voice was still clearly irritated. Ellie came in to see Maroni sitting at a desk, papers scattered on it, as he stared at her, waiting to hear what she wanted.

"Sorry to bother you uh…" She hesitated for a moment, not sure on what to call him, "boss…but I was just wondering if there was any…job that you wanted me to do…"

He looked at her for several moments, looking like he was contemplating something. "Didn't I tell you that I would let you know if I had a job for you?" He calmly stated, clearly trying to keep his annoyance under control. "Um…yeah. But it's been almost three week--" "And you're bored?" He asked, interrupting her. Not knowing what to say, Ellie simply shrugged.

Maroni let out a sigh, "Look. Next Monday, all the mob bosses are getting together to have a, uh, meeting. I would like it if you came." It almost sounded like he forced out the last part, but she didn't think much of it before answering, "Sure. Sounds good." Ellie half-smiled, not sure on whether she truly wanted to be in the same room as all the local mob bosses. But then again, it was a reason to get out of the house.

"Good. Now why don't you run along 'cuz I've got work to do." Ellie took the hint, and even though he was talking to her like she was a small child, she left the office without another word.

The next few days were rather uneventful. Ellie had decided to ignore Maroni's conversation she had overheard for now. She simply didn't want to ask questions. Everything had been going good and she didn't want to have the same negative relationship with Maroni like she had with the Joker. It would simply make her go insane. Plus, the conversation probably wasn't even about her, so it was best not to think about it.

Once again, she found herself watching t.v. Tomorrow was the mob meeting, so she decided to watch a little television and then go to bed.

The ten o'clock news was on, and like every day, Ellie watched it. She suddenly became intrigued when the words 'Breaking News' flashed across the screen in bright red. A women news reporter come onto the screen, and started speaking, "This just in, the body of Stacy Olsen has been found." Stacy Olsen. She had been the talk of the news for the past couple of days now. Apparently she left for work one day, and never came home. But of course, kidnapping was nothing new for Gotham City. Ellie almost turned off the t.v., uninterested in the story, but continued to watch when the news cut to some footage of the crime scene. The news reporter's voice could still be heard, "Stacy Olsen, age 22 was found dead in a nearby park where police are now searching for further evidence. Sources say she had multiple stab wounds in her stomach, along with unidentified carvings in her back. No one has been taking into custody yet, but police are working on several leads."

Ellie watched the t.v. skeptically. The whole situation seemed a little odd. The normal weirdos of Gotham would have raped the girl before murdering her, but the news reporter hadn't said anything about it. It made Ellie wonder who exactly had committed the crime, but she didn't have to wait long to find out because the news reporter continued, "Along with Olsen's body a tape recording was found." After the news reporter talked a few more seconds, they played the tape. To Ellie's horror, a _very_ familiar voice came from the t.v: "Come out, Come out, wherever you are! Can't hide forever sweetcheeks. The longer you stay away from me, the worse it's going to be for you."

_Ah fuck…_

**Thanks for reading! Please please review! I'm always open for feedback! The good and the bad ;) Thanks!**


	20. Chapter 19

**I'm sooo sorry it took me awhile to put up this chapter. I've been SO busy it's crazy, but I finally sat down and decided that I was going to get this chapter done. So, hope you enjoy! ;) Also, you've got to remember that the events that are taking place in the story are before the Joker had done any of the 'big' events that take place in The Dark Knight. So, he is still, I guess you can say, 'new' to the people of Gotham. –Just to clear up any confusion- **

Ellie had to admit, the threat she heard on the news from Joker did get her a little apprehensive. But then she realized that the Joker obviously didn't know where she was. If he did, he would have left a more direct threat; not leave it somewhere where it would be obvious for the news reporters to pick it up. This thought did relieve her anxiousness a bit. But then, the next morning, it didn't get any better.

Flipping on the news once more, more out of curiosity than anything else, Ellie saw that another murder had taken place. This time, instead of a woman, a mutilated corpse of a dog was found. And of course, the news had reported that there was another 'mysterious' tape recording found at the scene of the crime.

As soon as the tape was played, Ellie could hear the difference in Joker's voice instantly. It wasn't sadistically cheerful like the last tape. No, this time it seemed irritated…very, _very _irritated.

"Little lost puppy needs to find her way home. We wouldn't want her master to have to come and fetch her now would we? It would be such a shame to make her master wait any longer. This is your last chance _precious_. Don't make your _master_ anymore angry than he already is."

Ellie turned off the t.v. as soon as the tape was finished, not caring about what the news reporter's speculations about the murders and tape recordings were. She knew exactly what was going on. Her time was running out. But she was pretty sure that he didn't know where she was. If he had, he would have already have come to 'fetch' her. But then again, it wouldn't be impossible for him to find her. After all, he had already done it once before.

A little while later, Ellie was told by one of Maroni's men that they would be leaving for the mob meeting soon. Deciding that she would worry about the Joker later, Ellie got ready to go. She made sure that she wore a jacket, wanting to cover up the 'Joker' scar running down her arm.

………………………………………………………...

Ellie found herself in the back of a limousine, sitting between two of Maroni's men. She was watching Maroni intently as he spoke into his cell phone. She didn't know what exactly his conversation was about, but it didn't sound like the conversation that she had overheard him talking before. She figured that she had been paranoid before. He couldn't have been talking about her.

The limousine came to a stop and the driver came around to open the doors. Maroni was the first one out, still talking on his cell, followed by the other two men, then finally Ellie. She followed them silently into a building, and then up a flight of stairs; Maroni had finally hung up his phone by this time.

"Ellie" Maroni spoke in a gruff tone. It was the first time he had spoke to her since the conversation in his office. She quickly answered "yes?" Her voice sounded a little more eager than she would have liked. "Come here." Was his reply, and almost instantly, she made her way to the front on the group, next to Maroni.

He didn't look at her, but simply nudged her forward slightly. There was a man standing in a doorway with a hand-held metal detector (Is that what they're called??). The man stared at her questioningly for a moment before Maroni spoke, "She's with me." The man nodded with a slight smirk on his face; obviously thinking that she was _with him_ in a different sense. He quickly scanned the detector around her body. Once satisfied he motioned with his head inside and moved on to Maroni.

Once in the room, Ellie looked around to find a room with two large tables put together, along with numerous chairs. It seemed that they were the first ones to arrive since no one else was in the room. Not knowing where to go, Ellie started to head to one side of the table, but suddenly felt a hand grabbing the back of her shirt, pulling her in the opposite direction. "We sit here" was all Maroni said as he took his seat. One of Maroni's men had grabbed her, and he dragged her to her proper seat, right next to Maroni.

They sat in silence for about five minutes, Maroni's finger lightly tapping the top of the table impatiently. A few minutes later, another group of men walked in. Upon seeing these men, Maroni stood up and walked to the man that looked like the leader of the group. Maroni had a wide smile on his face upon seeing the man; Ellie, however, had a look of complete hate.

"Sal! It's been too long" The man spoke, shaking Maroni's hand and giving him a friendly pat on the back. In the man's hand was a black briefcase that Maroni was eyeing after they had exchanged their welcomes. The man must have took notice to Maroni's interest because he chuckled briefly before holding it up to Maroni. "Got it right here Sal. I'll be getting my end of the deal I expect?" All the while, Ellie sat there, arms crossed, watching both men with a mixture of anger and slight confusion apparent on her face.

"Of course. I brought it like I said I would. I think the proper exchanging can wait until after the meeting though." Maroni replied to the man. The man agreed and both went back to the table and sat; Maroni in his seat next to Ellie, and the man in the seat across from them. Maroni turned to Ellie, "Ellie, I'd like you to meet Mr. Vince Coletti." Ellie scowled at the man that sat across from her, "We've met." She said simply, glaring at Coletti who had a confident smirk on his face as he watched her. Maroni grinned wickedly, "Oh good."

Before anyone could say anything else, more men started to come in and take their designated seats around the table. Once it appeared everyone was there, the meeting began. Ellie didn't care about the meeting anymore. She didn't care what any of the mob bosses had to say. She was too pissed off that Coletti decided to show up. Even more so that Maroni and Coletti seemed to be happy mob buddies. '_This is a mob meeting…It was inevitable that Coletti would be here.' _Ellie internally fought with her logic, as she basically sat and glared at the table top the whole time. She was only interrupted from her thoughts once as two men carried in a small t.v. and placed it on the table. An Asian man began to speak to the group, and that was when she went back to her silent sulking.

A few minutes later, Ellie was brought back to reality, and much to her horror, when loud, mocking chuckles filled the air. She snapped her head up towards the sound, her heart stopping when she saw _him_. "And I thought _my _jokes were bad…" All the men in the room had gone silent, watching as the intruder came into view and stopped at the head of the table. Ellie never took her eyes off of him as he scanned the room. His eyes lingered on Coletti for a moment, but surprisingly, he avoided looking at Ellie. Their eyes never met, and she was silently praying that she had somehow grown invisible at that moment.

She sat there stunned, the look of fear was very well apparent on her face. How had he known? There was no possible way that he could have known where she was or who she was with. In truth, Ellie started to panic. Her breathing became heavy, and everyone around seemed to get a little fuzzy. Their mouths moved, but no words came out that she could hear. The only clear thing in the room was _him._ The Joker.

One of Gambol's men looked like he was going to try and detain the Joker, but was instantly slammed onto an upright pencil on the table. Only when the now-dead man slid to the floor did the Joker catch a glance in Ellie's direction. His eyes full of malice as a malicious grin twisted onto his lips.

Once Joker broke his stare, he began to address the rest of the men in the room. Ellie, however, didn't care what he was saying, she was, as discreetly as she could, looking around the room for any other possible exits. She knew there would be no way to leave undetected, but felt that she needed to come up with escape routes…just in case.

She finally found a door in the back of the room, but it was way too far away to even try and attempt to leave. She planned out what she would do to escape if need be, and kept revising the plan over and over in her head until she noticed the Joker suddenly stand up. He opened his long jacket to reveal several bombs attached to himself. "Let's not blow this out of proportion……I want my property back. It's really quite simple. I'll be waiting. If I have to wait much longer, certain persons are not going to like me very well when I get my hands on them. I would have to say I've been quite calm about the whole thing" He didn't seem to be staring at anyone in particular, but the 'persons' he was referring too got the message loud and clear. Joker started to back towards the door that he had previously come through. "Oh, and as for the money…I want half." He kicked the door open forcefully, and then was gone.

The men looked at one another, conversing through simple facial expressions; either confusion, irritation, or contempt. Ellie, however, sat very still in her seat. Fearful tears threatened to fall, but she managed to hold them back for now. Why hadn't he just taken her? No one would have stopped him, especially since several bombs were strapped to him. Joker had been right about one thing…he had been calm about the whole thing…Why was that? He could have easily come in there, guns blazing, scaring the shit out of all the mob bosses, and then snatch her. He seemed to be giving her, to some extent, a choice. She could willingly come back to him, or he could forcefully come and take her. Or he could be just testing her. Lure her into a false sense of security. It wouldn't be the first time. But either way, Ellie knew that she was running out of warnings from the Joker. She figured that would be the last one, and if he had to tell her again, things wouldn't turn out so good for her. His patience was being stretched too thin…

**Thanks for reading! I know the scene was kind of choppy, but I figured that everyone has already seen the movie a million times, so I didn't think it was necessary to put in every single dialogue. Hope you don't mind. Please review!! Thanks!**


	21. Chapter 20

"Let's go." Maroni said as he suddenly stood up from his chair. Most of the men in the room were aggravated about the 'clown's disruption,' and decided to leave. Ellie watched Maroni walk over to Coletti and take the briefcase that Coletti had come in with. Ellie also got up, following Maroni as he went out of the room and left the building.

Seeing that Maroni was heading for his parked limousine, Ellie followed, but was stopped when two large hands grabbed her arms. The arms began to drag her in the opposite direction of where she had been going. "Hey! Let me go!" She yelled and looked to see that the hands belonged to a rather large man that she only recognized as one of the guys Coletti had came in with. Struggling a bit more, Ellie noticed that Maroni had looked back at her, with an indifferent expression on his face before getting into his limousine. What the hell??

Ellie tried kicking at the man, but he seemed unfazed as he continued to pull her. They made it to the other side of the building where another limo was parked. The man used his free hand to open the back limo door and shoved her inside.

Ellie landed roughly on the floor of the limo. She tried to get up, but was quickly pushed back down, and felt her hands being tied behind her back. She was then grabbed by the arm and tossed into one of the seats. Mumbling curses under her breath, Ellie looked over to see Coletti seating next to her with a gun resting in his hand. The other man, that had grabbed Ellie, backed out of the limo and shut the door.

She sat there uncomfortably, simply glaring straight ahead at nothing in particular. She heard the limo start up and they began moving. Coletti, by her side, spoke with some amusement in his voice, "And you actually thought a man like Sal Maroni would hire someone like you?"

Ellie continued to glare straight ahead, deciding to ignore his taunts for now. When she didn't say anything, Coletti continued, "No one would actually hire you. Well…no one except for that _freak_…But then again, he didn't take you back there. Why'd he leave you? Is it that he doesn't like damaged goods either?"

From side glance, Ellie saw Coletti turn to look at her. Again, she ignored him. She desperately wanted to punch him one in the face, but since her hands were bound, it stopped her from doing so.

"Just face it kid, you're not cut out for this type of work." He lifted the gun up slightly, eyeing it for a moment. Ellie noticed that her gaze also moved over towards the gun. "You try and run with the big dogs, you're gonna get bit." Coletti lifted the gun to the side of her neck, watching eagerly for a reaction that she wouldn't give him. "But we can fix that, can't we?"

A minute later, when Coletti realized he wasn't going to get the reaction that he wanted from her, he lowered the gun and eyed her curiously. "What's the matta? Did that freak cut out your tongue or somethin'?" Finally, Ellie turned to Coletti and then spat right at his face. Her cheek received a blow from him a second later, the force causing Ellie to fall from the seat to the floor.

Looking up, she saw that the gun was now pointing at her, Coletti's face contorted in anger. "You're just asking for a bullet in your head, ain't ya?"

"Go to hell" Ellie growled, never taking her eyes away from the man in front of her. "Looks like I'll be seeing ya there." Coletti said with a smile, his finger now reaching for the trigger.

The next moment several things happened at once. The sound of the gunshot filled the air, but was drowned out by a huge _Crash._ The limo was pushed forcefully to the side as both Ellie and Coletti were also thrown in that direction. Ellie groaned as she looked around in a slight daze to see what had happened. Realizing that the limo was completely stopped, she looked over at Coletti who seemed to be knocked out from hitting his head on the side window.

Seeing it as an opportunity to escape, Ellie shuffled on her knees to the door. She managed to maneuver her backside against the door so that her hands, still being bound behind her back, could reach the handle and open it.

Once opened, Ellie literally fell out of the limo, landing hard on the road pavement. With another groan escaping her lips, she saw that a large van had t-boned the front end of the limo. Smoke was emerging out from under both vehicles' hoods, and pebbles of glass littered the road.

Careful not to kneel on any of the glass, Ellie tried standing, only to fall back down on her knees. She was about to attempt standing once more, but was then forcefully pulled to her feet by her hair. Wincing, she looked to see a very familiar face standing behind her, "hey there sweetcheeks. Miss me?" His voice was full of childish amusement as he pulled her hair back a little more, making Ellie's body crash into his. She hated the fact that her hands were behind her back, them being a little too close to a certain area.

He bent down, close to her ear as he whispered, his hot breath making her cringe, "You wanna know who missed you?" With his free hand, a knife appeared in his hand and waved it in front of her face "He did. That's who." Any hint of the Joker's childish tone had dissipated as the knife moved dangerously close to Ellie's neck. A shiver ran down her body.

Ellie let out a nervous chuckle, "You know, uh, I wasn't…_deliberately_ trying to hide from you…I only-" Her words slowly faded away as the knife grew tighter on her neck. "Looks like I'm going to have to keep a _very _short leash on you from now on. Wouldn't you say so?" Ellie's mouth grew dry at his words that were being whispered venomously into her ear. She didn't have time to answer, not like she wanted to anyways, because another van came flying down the road and suddenly stopped in front of the Joker and Ellie. The man in the driver's seat, who was wearing a clown mask, rolled down the window and stuck his head out to look at the Joker, "Hey Boss, sorry I'm a little late I-" He was cut off as a loud _Bang_ filled the air and blood splattered on the side of the van.

The Joker had let go of Ellie's hair for that moment, replacing her hair with a gun. After basically blowing the clown driver's head off, Joker placed the gun back inside his coat pocket and began walking, the knife still tightly on Ellie's throat. This forced her to walk with Joker as he went to the back of the van, opened the door, and then tossed her inside. Before slamming the back doors, Joker gave a scowling glance at Ellie, his tongue flicking out and licking his bottom lip ever so slightly.

Joker then moved to the front of the van, opening the driver's door, he let the clown man's body slide out and land on the pavement before climbing in and starting up the van.

The ride was silent. And with the Joker, this was a really rare occasion. That could mean only one thing; he was furious.

A little while later, the van was quickly stopped from the Joker slamming on the breaks. '_We must be at the hideout…just great._'

Joker moved to the back of the van, where he kneeled down next to Ellie, making her really uncomfortable with how close he was to her. A second later, Joker raised his fist and it then collided with her head, knocking her out.

……………………………………………….

Waking up a little while later, Ellie felt groggy and groaned slightly. She tried to move her hand to feel her aching head, but realized that she couldn't move it. Looking down, she saw that she was sitting in a chair, both hands and feet strapped down. The room was dark, with one light that hung above the chair. Just then, a high pitched laughter filled the room as Ellie, to her horror, realized that she was in the room…the Toy Room.

Hope you like! Please review; I love to hear your thoughts on the chapter! Thanks!


	22. Chapter 21

**Sorry, sorry, sorry! About the delay. A bunch of things have been going on, and I temporarily almost lost interest in this whole thing. BUT! A spark of creativity blessed me, and here I am. I'm going to tell you all straight up that I have no idea where I want this story to go. I also wrote this chapter twice because the first time I realized that what I did made absolutely no sense. Hopefully the second version will. You're ideas are definitely welcome! Anyways, you're amazing comments keep me motivated. Thanks to all the fans that have stuck with it so far. And so, in light of celebrating the Dark Knight coming to DVD: Here. We. Go!**

**Song of the chapter: 'Dead Memories' by Slipknot (HaaHaa, this song fits perfectly with the story)**

Ellie didn't even have time to collect her thoughts because a hard fist to the side of her cheek came out of nowhere, her head snapped to the side, and she stared emotionlessly to the concrete floor, refraining from letting any tears fall.

"Look at me" The Joker growled venomously at her. Slowly, Ellie turned her head, looking at him in the eye. His eyes flashed with anger upon seeing that her expression was turned into a glare. Another fist came in contact with her face.

"Fuck you." She mumbled quietly, returning her scowl to the floor. At this point she didn't care anymore. Any fear that should have been there seemed to become indifference…or stupidity.

"What'd you just say?" Came the reply, no louder than a whisper; a deadly whisper. She turned to look at him again, but this time spat in his face.

What seemed like a split second later, there was a vice grip on Ellie's hair, yanking her head backwards, a knife appearing and tightly pressing against her throat. Now, the fear started to set in.

The Joker's tongue swept quickly over his bottom lip before calmly saying, "I don't know whether hanging around all those gangsters has made you cocky…or just stupid. Either way, I don't like it." Another quick lick on his lips before continuing, the knife pressing tighter ever so slightly, "But maybe I need to remind you just who the hell I am." His voice remained eerily calm, but his eyes were like fire.

The fear started to creep into Ellie and suppress any of the confidence she had previously felt. But then again, she was tired of all this; almost to the point where she didn't care anymore whether she lived or died.

"I don't work for you anymore." She managed to say, not able to look him in the eye anymore.

Ellie jumped in her seat as an unexpected cackle of laughter filled the room. She felt the grip on her hair now gone as well as the knife that had been on her throat as the Joker slipped into one of his infamous laughing attacks.

She was tired of being laughed at. Tired of all his bullshit. "Shut up." Ellie said through gritted teeth. It worked. The laughing suddenly stopped, and the smile was wiped off Joker's face; he even looked a little tacked aback.

"I don't work for you anymore." She repeated more firmly. "I don't need you anymore."

Joker's brows furrowed and he opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it. He only stared at her. It seemed for the first time in his life that he was at a loss for words.

Finally after a moment, Joker spoke, "You think--" He stopped and averted his gaze from her. Tapping his foot impatiently, Joker smacked his lips together and looked back at her before continuing, "You think you don't need _me_?" His voice was quiet, but it only stayed that way for a moment, "You think you don't need ME!?" He bellowed, causing Ellie to flinch, but she stood her ground. "No I don't. But I think you need me…I think you've got an obsession or something." Her voice sounded confident despite her trembling body.

These comments earned another punch to her already bruised face. Joker must have been furious by her words because he began pacing back and forth in front of her. She was glad she had said it. Someone needed to. She wasn't sure if he was angry because he was in self-denial or because of the fact that he finally became aware of the truth… the truth of his obsession.

Another punch to the face. She could now taste blood in her mouth. The Joker eyed her as she spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground. He then, once again, began pacing. "See! This is what happens!" He smacked his lips together before continuing, "This is what happens every damn time!" Joker stopped pacing and hovered over Ellie. In one swift motion, both of his hands were wrapped around her throat tightly. Ellie began gasping for breath, but the Joker ignored her. His voice remained calm and composed despite Ellie's struggle to break from his grip. "Every. Damn. Time. The puppy strays from her master, he gets angry, puppy gets punished." With every word he said, his voice grew more deadly. "But you wanna know the funny thing? The puppy never seems to learn her lesson."

By this time, Ellie's air supply was so fully restricted that she thought for sure that she was going to pass out; thankfully in the next moment, Joker released his grip, acting like touching her would make him infected with some sort of disease.

Ellie began coughing, desperately trying to fill her lungs back up with oxygen. "W…Why don't you just kill me now?" She asked him, her words coming out hoarse and raspy.

She half expected him to burst out laughing again, and it surprised her when he didn't. Instead, the Joker looked at her dead in the eye. His face was actually serious. His voice? Even more serious. "Because, then, you'd win." If Ellie had even a small doubt in his insanity, his words right then and there sealed the deal. "You're fucking crazy." She spat, earning her a backhand across her face. If she hadn't been tied to a chair, she would have definitely fallen to the ground.

"After everything. After everything I do for her. The bitch is still ungrateful." Joker had begun ranting to himself, flinging his arms animatedly around the air as he spoke, almost as if Ellie wasn't even in the same room. "She thinks _I'm _crazy?? She thinks that she doesn't need me?? I'll show her. I will. I will. She'll see." Irritation was clearly seen as the Joker frantically ran his tongue over his bottom lip several times. His fists were now tensely at his side, fists clenching and unclenching. "_I _have an obsession? Oh no no no no!"

The only thing Ellie could do was watch him. She didn't dare interrupt him. He was pissed enough. But as she watched his frantic rant with himself, she realized it. Realization hit her, and hit her hard. Even the thought of what she had to do made the bile rise in her throat.

The only way she'd get out of this mess was to gain the maniac's trust back. And the only way to do that was to be the obedient little puppy that _he _wanted her to be. Only then would she be able to escape, and escape for good.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled, bowing her head down, her gaze at the floor. The Joker instantly stopped the talking to himself to turn and look at her. He blinked once before taking a gloved hand and placing it under her chin to force her to look at him.

Instead of meeting his gaze, Ellie only stared at his scarred mouth.

Joker's eyes narrowed, "What. Did. You say?" She repeated herself, "I'm sorry." This time, he did laugh. His loud cackle pierced the air. He never let go of her chin, and she never looked him in the eye.

Once he was finished, he looked at her, his lips still twisted into an amused smile. "Sorry?? Ha Ha! Wait. Wait! I think I've heard this one before!" Joker sounded like an excited little kid at Christmas. But because he was the devil incarnate, his voice did a complete 180 and became dangerous, "Oh _wait._ I have. It's called bullshit."

Ellie could feel his hot breath on her skin as he was now only mere inches away from her. Her body trembled slightly, but she knew what she needed to do in order to save herself. Swallowing whatever pride she had left, Ellie leaned in slightly, placing her lips onto his.

It only took a second for the Joker to jump away from her in complete surprise. He stared at her, his face contorted in a mixture of shock and anger.

In a blink of an eye, Joker pulled out his knife, making Ellie's breathing quicken. But he didn't come at her with the knife. He didn't stab her. No. Instead, he cut the bindings that held her wrists to the chair.

Once she was unbound, Joker pushed her off the chair, making her crash to the hard floor. Because of Joker's unpredictability, Ellie began to crawl away from him, not knowing what he had in mind.

Joker quickly advanced onto her, sending his foot crashing to the side of her ribs. Ellie landed face-first on the concrete. A small whimper escaped her lips as she held to her side. Another kick. Then another. A fist, then a kick. Curling into a pathetic ball on the ground, Ellie took each blow, not being able to do anything about it.

A good ten minutes later it ended. The Joker stood over her, panting like a rabid dog. Ellie remained in her fetal position, whimpering and crying. But then she remembered what she must do. Ignoring the pain the best she could, she managed to crawl to him. She wrapped her arms around his legs, resting her head on them as if to hug him. The Joker didn't react at first, but after a few moments, he patted her head.

_Let the games begin._

**Hope you enjoyed. Please let me know what you think, and any ideas would be awesome. Thanks again!**


	23. Chapter 22

The next day, Ellie awoke, not even remembering having fallen asleep. She found herself in the same room as the previous night, but her hand was handcuffed to one of the old pipes, and she was lying on the floor. Her whole body was tense and it ached with every little movement. A simple task such as breathing hurt her. The room was dark, so she couldn't see the bruises that no doubt covered her skin, but she could sure feel them, reminding herself of the Joker's beating last night. A small moan escaped her lips as she placed her free hand onto her forehead in hopes of subduing her pounding headache.

A moment later, the door opened, letting light flood into the room. In stepped the Joker, his expression wasn't visible, making it impossible to tell what mood he was in this morning. He strode over to Ellie, who was still sitting on the ground. Bending down next to her, the Joker took something from his pocket, and grabbed Ellie's restrained hand. Without saying a word, Joker unlocked the handcuff, letting Ellie's hand fall to her side.

The Joker stood back up, and stared emotionlessly down at her. "Get up." He growled, this time pulling out a gun from his pocket. Ellie swallowed hard at the sight of the gun, and then looked back up at Joker, the fear clear in her eyes. Her voice was dry, so when she managed to form words, they came out hoarse and scratchy, "W-what are you--?" The Joker licked his lips once, as if trying to stay calm, and then repeated, "Get up." When she hesitated, Joker bellowed, "Now!"

~  
The sudden change in his voice made Ellie jump, and she got to her feet as quickly as she could. The pain searing through her body, Ellie almost fell back to the floor but managed to use the wall to steady herself. The Joker eyed Ellie leaning against the wall, and then looked to the floor for a second before looking back at her. "Get out of here." His voice was so low. Not angry, but very serious. He seemed to be fighting off some hidden emotion. Ellie didn't know what he meant by the request, so she simply stayed against the wall, the confusion written across her face.

"Are you deaf or something?" The Joker asked, still with the same serious, calm tone. It was a tone that almost made him sound…human. "I don't understand what you--" "It's really quite simple…" The Joker began, his teeth now slightly gritted together, "Get. Out. Of. Here." He pointed to the door to reiterate his point.

~  
Not wanting his mood to suddenly change, Ellie pushed herself away from the wall, and slowly limped towards the door, never taking her eyes off of him. When she was a few steps from the door, Ellie stopped, not trusting the Joker or what he was saying. She didn't understand what he meant about 'get out of here.' Did he mean to just get out of the room? Or did he mean to get out of here altogether? The fact that he had a gun in his hand didn't make her feel any safer about the situation either. The Joker saw the hesitation and quickly waved his hand at her as if he was shooing a fly away. "I want you out of here. Gone. Far away. I've decided that I'm letting the dog off its leash. So go. Get the hell out of here." He said it so normal. Like he was discussing the weather. But Ellie was still unsure. No, she was in disbelief. He was letting her go? Just like that? After all the work he put in to find her not once, but twice?

~  
Again, she hesitated. This time, the Joker wasn't so nice. He raised the gun and fired off a bullet that missed Ellie by a few inches. She almost jumped out of her skin, the Joker yelled, "Get out! NOW!" That was enough persuasion. Ellie was out the door as fast as her injured body would allow. She hobbled/ran towards the stairs that would lead her out the front door. She almost fell more than once as she raced down the stairs, the taste of freedom almost in her reach. The Joker must have lost any little insanity that he had. And for once, Ellie was glad.

She had about 5 steps left before reaching the bottom. She had almost made it, that was until a heavy force knocked her down, making her fall down the rest of the steps until she landed flat on her back at the bottom of the staircase.

Ellie was a little dazed from the new pain that engulfed her body. The force that had pushed her down was now snarling, and Ellie could see it was a large Rottweiler. Since when did the Joker have a dog? That question of course was the least of her worries because now the dog had grabbed hold of her arm, and it bit down hard, allowing for a loud scream to come from Ellie.

She struggled to break her arm away from the dog's jaws, but this only caused the dog to pull back sharply, making the pain increase. Ellie quickly learned that it was best not to struggle, but instead lay as still as possible in hopes that the dog would just let go…it didn't.

Now a laugh filled the room. The Joker made his way slowly down the steps, almost falling down himself from how much he was laughing. Skipping down the last few steps, Joker landed next to Ellie and the growling dog, of course, the Joker's laughter intensified.

Tears started to stream down Ellie's face; blood started to come from her arm as the dog's teeth pierced her skin.

Finally, the Joker managed to control his laughter somewhat, and he whistled once; instantly the dog released Ellie's arm. The dog gave a yelp as Joker kicked it aside, making it run down the hall and out of sight. The combination of hearing the dog's pain as well as seeing Ellie's, made the Joker to crack up laughing again.

Ellie clutched her bleeding arm, and tried to sit up. Her efforts failed, however, when the Joker pushed her back down and straddled her. Tears were going down his face as well, but for a different reason. He wiped them away with the sleeve of his jacket, smearing his make-up. His smile stretched across his face even further than normal as he tried to contain his chuckles.

"Oh! Haahaa!...You should'a…you should'a seen the look!..." More laughter continued as the Joker tried to form coherent sentences. Ellie glared up at him, her teeth biting her bottom lip, as she continued to cradle her arm.

The Joker finally regained his composure, wiping the last tears away from the corner of his dark eyes. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled dramatically before continuing, "Hoo! I told ya I'd let the dog off its leash! Heehahaho! Who'd you think I was talking about?" Ellie continued to glare as she watched Joker's face contort back to a large smile, looking as if more giggles were threatening to escape his throat. Joker ignored her glare, and instead gave her a wink before getting off of her. "You're too trusting El. That's why I like ya so much." Joker said childishly before skipping off down the same hall that the dog had gone minutes before.

Once the Joker was out of sight, Ellie sat up, examining her arm in pain. The wound wasn't as bad as she had thought, but it still hurt like a MF. She slowly stood up, holding her bad arm with her good one. She was just mere feet from the front door, but knew better than to test it. The Joker probably wanted her to go through that door. He probably had another 'great surprise' awaiting her if she did. But Ellie remembered what she had thought of last night. '_Act like the Joker's obedient little puppy…Then when he least expects it…_' So, with that in mind, Ellie limped down the hallway as well, in the direction that she assumed the Joker had gone.

She made it into the 'lounge' room where the goons usually hung out. And sure enough, the Joker stood a few feet inside the room, back towards the door. He was talking animatedly to the few men that were in the room about whatever job he was having them do next. That's when Ellie saw it. A gun hung loosely in Joker's hand, he probably forgotten that he was holding it by the way he was so engrossed with what he was saying. That was it. Forget the stupid 'obedient puppy' crap. She was going to do it her way. End it the right way.

Quietly, Ellie came into the room, thankfully, no dog was in sight. When she got close enough, she grabbed the gun quickly, making the Joker turn, a surprised look on his face. Before he could react, however, Ellie pushed him, making him lose his footing and fall to the ground. This time, Ellie was the one to straddle him, and she put the gun to his head. She could hear Joker's goons start to come forward towards her, but the Joker put his hand up to stop them. "At ta ta. Leave us boys." He had no fear or anger in his voice. Despite the situation, Joker kept his normal childish voice, and Ellie had to admit, she was a little disappointed.

The goons looked at the Joker, unsure, but he simply nodded, and the goons hesitantly left the room. As soon as the last man left and door was shut, Joker looked back at Ellie, who still held the gun to his head, and he smiled. "Do it El. Do it. I want you to. Come on, do it." Joker licked his lips hungrily, as his eyes grew a little wider; not from fear, but from eagerness. "Pull the trigger El!" Ellie closed her eyes, her hands shaking slightly. She had thought it would have been a piece of cake, but it was turning out to be a lot harder than she had originally thought; and she didn't know why.

"Ahhh, come on!" Joker said, sounding like a whining little child. "Hurry up El. Isn't this what you wanted? Do it." Ellie squeezed her eyes tighter, "Shut up!" she yelled at him. He was making it a lot harder for her. But he didn't shut up. He continued to egg her on. "End it El. Do it. Shoot me…shoot me!" He shouted the last part, making Ellie jump; a bead of sweat came off her forehead as he continued to pressure her.

~  
When a minute or so passed without any action, Joker smiled wide. He shook his head, a low chuckle coming from the bottom of his throat. "Give me the gun El." He whispered darkly. She obliged, not even being able to look at him. Joker took the gun from her, and stood up, making Ellie fall off of him. She sat on the floor, knees curled to her chest, hands and arms covering her head and face, as she mentally beat herself up. Why couldn't she do it? She wanted nothing more for him to die, but she couldn't do it…

"Pathetic." The Joker whispered. "You couldn't do it. You wanna know why you couldn't? I'll tell you why." She could hear him circling her, but she stayed exactly where she was, not being able to move, or even to look at him.

He continued, still circling her ever so slowly, "You said last night that I was the one that needed you. But, as usual, you were wrong. You're the one that needs me. And I just proved my point. No matter how much I begged for you to do it. To pull the trigger. You didn't. You didn't because you don't know what you'd do without me. You know it'd eat you up alive if I was gone forever, and that you knew that you were the one responsible for it. See, I'm not afraid to die. That's what separates you from I. If the roles were switched and I had been the one pointing the gin to your forehead, what would you have done El? Hmm? You would've been begging me not to end your pathetic life. Even though deep down inside, you're screaming for me to put you out of your misery. But you'd never say it, would you? Of course not. Your fear gets in the way. Your fear gets in the way of what you really want. And because of your cowardice, this will continue. I'll continue. I'll continue to beat you down like the dog you are until the day that you say those words. Until the day that I can look you in the eye and know that you really mean it when you say the words, 'pull the trigger.'"

The whole time, Ellie stayed in the same position, but now her body was shaking. Shaking because now she was crying. Also because she knew he was right, and the truth scared her.

Her body then froze, however, because she could now feel _him _next to her. He was kneeling down beside her. He then whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine, "All you need is a little push El. And I'd be more than happy to give it to you."

Joker stood back up, and stared down at her. Both remained silent for a few moments, with the exception of the muffled sobs coming from Ellie. That bastard had wanted her to take the gun from him…all so he could prove a point…

A minute later, Joker made his way to the door to leave. Once at the doorframe, Joker turned back once more to look at her. This time in a menacing tone, Joker spoke one final time, "Oh, and if you ever threaten me again, I will personally break every bone in your body." And with that, he was gone. He was gone, leaving Ellie to wallow in her own misery.

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**Hope you enjoyed! I had fun writting this chapter. Especially Joker's little monologue at the end. So, please review. I really appreciate every one who does. Thank you guys! I'm also open to any suggestions or new ideas that you would like to see in the story.**

**Until next time....**


	24. Chapter 23

**Gahhh! So I'm back with this story! Getting a spark of creativity for this fic again. Please read the more…uh detailed author's note at the end. Enjoy!**

**...**

A week or so had passed since Ellie's last run in with the Joker. She had managed to stay on his good side, which she was more than happy about. She needed a break, but even more so, her _body_ needed a break. Her cuts and bruises were healing, and she had not obtained any additional injuries the whole week. It made life so much easier to just stay out of _his_ way. Sure, the two crossed paths every so often in the hideout, but Ellie simply kept her head down and walked passed. Surprisingly, the Joker never said anything to her; didn't even acknowledge her presence. At one point, she thought that maybe he was ignoring her, but then she saw the look in his eyes. Joker always seemed so deep in thought whenever she saw him lately. She didn't know what was going on inside that mind of his, and it was probably better that she didn't know.

Either way, Ellie really didn't care. If he was leaving her alone, then that was perfectly fine with her. She had been feeling more and more like one of the Joker's henchman rather than someone he simply taunted on a regular basis. In the case of the Joker, she liked being ignored.

She had lost track of how many weeks it was until the Joker finally acknowledged her. And when he did, he seemed to be all business. Yes, he was definitely planning something, but she wasn't going to break his concentration. "Take this to the address and say who it's from but not what it is…On second thought, don't look in the package." The Joker had told her, handing her a small cardboard box that was taped shut. On the top was a sticky note with an address scribbled across it. "I'll know if you do." He added with a faint growl as Ellie nodded.

The address led her to the deep part of the Narrows. It was a rundown building and she had to circle a few blocks several times before noticing the chipping numbers on the side of one of the buildings. She parked the van a block away to walk there, the Joker telling her to avoid raising any suspicion.

She went through the back alley, knocking on the side door as a bulky man with a jagged facial scar answered. "From the Joker." She told him simply as she handed over the box. The man in return nodded and handed her a wad of cash. She knew it was intended for the Joker so she stuffed it into her pocket before heading back towards the van, figuring that had been easy enough.

Ellie didn't make it very far before she was suddenly shoved roughly to the side and pushed against one of the building's walls, her cheek making contact with the brick as she let out a small groan.

"Tell me what he's up to." A raspy and deep voice demanded behind her as she was held against the wall. She winced as the rough surface dug into the side of her face as she tried to struggle against the man's tight grasp, but with no such luck of escape. Knowing immediately who the man was just by his voice, Ellie started to panic a bit.

"Tell me!" He demanded again, trying to push her more, if only the wall wasn't blocking her path, instead she felt a nice little scrap to the side of her cheek.

"Get off of me Batboy!" She snarled as she tried to thrash her body to get him off. After trying to fight against him, she was promptly yanked away from the wall and pushed onto the ground.

On her back, she looked up to the looming dark outline of the Batman. About to try to get up and run, he quickly pushed her back down, pinning her arms with his legs as he grabbed the front of her jacket.

"I'm not telling you shit!" She yelled back defiantly even though she had to admit she was a bit afraid of the Batman. But she would never admit that aloud. Least of all to him…Well, least of all to the Joker, but he wasn't exactly here right now unfortunately.

"Get off!" She tried to buck her hips as the masked man narrowed his eyes, pressing down more of his weight onto her.

"The GCPD is close. Very close. And when the clown goes down, so will every single person working under him, including you." The Batman started to explain through his raspy voice as Ellie stopped her struggles momentarily, suddenly interested in what he had to say.

"You're bluffing! If you and your little detectives are so close to catching him, then you wouldn't be here talking to me." Ellie countered as the Batman narrowed his eyes. "The Joker is planning something. Something bigger than even you could imagine. We don't know exactly what it is, but we know he's starting to get sloppy. He's making mistakes that'll eventually lead to his take down." He told her as Ellie shook her head. The Batman was either lying or incredibly stupid. Joker didn't make mistakes. He was meticulous and he did everything with a purpose.

"What the fuck do you need me for then?" She snapped, deciding to humor him for the moment. "I'm here to make a deal. The next time he slips up, my guys are taking him down. Whether you want to fall with him is your choice." Seeing her confused face, he continued, "You make sure he slips up and you'll stay a free woman after he's caught." The Batman told her.

While she wasn't sure what exactly he was proposing, or what 'slip up' she was expected to have him make, but it was an interesting idea that the Batman was coming to her for help. "You and I both know that isn't going to happen. You know what he'd do to me if he finds out or you and your Pigs mess up?" She asked, knowing Joker would shoot her dead if she betrayed him anymore. Well, shoot her dead after making her endure much brutal and agonizing torture.

"That won't happen." He countered, beginning to loosen his grip on her jacket. "You're broken. I can see it in your eyes. You don't want this life. And you know if you stay he'll eventually kill you, but you have no way out either. Help us help you." The Batman tried to tempt, wanting her to take the bait as he could see through her scowl that she was inwardly considering his words. "Lead me to the Joker." The Batman told her.

"I can't do that." Ellie shook her head briefly, surprised when the Batman nodded in agreement to her response.

"Fine, then lead him to me." He responded as he let go and stood up. Her body was young, but her eyes were tired. Tired of the cruel life she led. And he would use that to his advantage if it meant stopping the Joker.

Ellie blinked as he stood up off of her. She stayed on her back as she took in his words.

"Lead him to me and save yourself." The Batman said once more and when Ellie finally sat up, she realized he was already gone.

...

**I realize this story has been on hiatus for like…a ridiculously long time. And I have no idea if anyone is still reading or is even interested, but if you are, you're SO awesome! :D**

**So, I was thinking about wrapping up this story soon and then creating a sequel. And since the new film has come out and its sooo amazing, I was thinking about having the sequel feature Bane. But of course, the Joker would eventually hop back into things too because you can't keep him down. Heehee ;) **

**Just curious if anyone would be interested in this? Let me know by leaving a comment! And thank you to everyone who has been soooo patient with me as I finally found my spark again for this story.**


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